A whistle blower has petitioned the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga to ban parliament’s new Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) from re-investigating Bank of Uganda especially over Shs478 billion that the central bank officials failed to account during the first probe carried out under Abdu Katuntu as chairperson.

Early this week, the Committee chairman Mubarak Munyagwa re-opened the probe into BoU’s closure of Crane Bank Limited (CBL) which was closed on October 20, 2016 and put in receivership until January 25, 2017 when the central bank transferred some of its assets and liabilities to Dfcu bank at a paltry Shs200 billion, despite the central bank claiming they injected in CBL Shs478 billion as liquidity support during the receivership. Unfortunately BoU officials as established in the first probe failed to account for about Shs320 billion of that money as presented by the Auditor General.

On Tuesday, Munyagwa allowed in parliament Deputy Governor Louis Kasekende, asking him about the auditing of BoU’s accounts. He also sent him back to bring accounting documents after BoU failed to account for billions of shillings injected into CBL and blow. The fist COSASE did this work very well to the extent of faulting BoU for poor recording keeping as some documents could not be traced.

Watchers say MP Munyagwa is trying to play on the minds of fellow legislators, to give Dr. Kasekende a chance to table accountability of Shs478 billion which BoU failed to account for during Katuntu’s probe that begin late October 2018 and ended in February 2019, with Katuntu presenting a report of the probe to parliament .

Since the Katuntu report was Okayed by MPs, some BoU officials have been working hard to cover their guilt as exposed by the first Cosase probe that let Ugandans to know how incompetent BoU managers were, and how carelessly closed CBL and six other banks. At the time CBL was closed it only needed Shs150 billion to remain afloat according to Ben Sekabira, a senior manager at BoU.

In his petition to Kadaga dated May 29, 2019, the whistleblower argues that the first committee had interaction with the BoU top officials from which observations and recommendations were made, and are awaiting corrective actions to be taken. He is surprised that Munyagwa wants to push back the process especially as regards Shs478 billion mismanaged.

“It’s our humble appeal that you direct your committee to concentrate on other institutions other than interfering with the previous Committee observations and recommendations than wasting tax payers’ money on a single institution, ”he says.

The whistleblower also requested Kadaga to stop the Sub Committee selected by Cosase from interfering with BoU operations before a treasury memorandum is laid before parliament.

“Rt. Hon Speaker, we request urgent action and guidance of your committee saves tax payers money and embarrassment of the Institution of Parliament.” he says.

As a recap the Auditor General John Muwanga declined to do another audit of Shs478 billion at the request of BoU Deputy Governor Kasekende. Muwanga declined to a second because BoU officials in the first audit failed to present to him all documents related to the use of the money they claim was transferred to CBL in receivership.

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Rwandan President Paul Kagame’s former bodyguard and strong critic Camir Nkuruziza has been assassinated by unknown gunmen in Cape Town South Africa

Sources reveal that he had fled to exile in south Africa after accusing Gen Kagame of planing to rule Rwandans by force, torture of opponents and Kagame also accused him of planing a coup.

At the centre of the dirty diplomatic tussle are several issues: South Africa giving refuge to

Nkuruziza is the second high profile person to be killed in South Africa after the killing of former intelligence boss Colonel Patrick Karegeya in Sandton.

Former Rwandan army chief General Kayumba Nyamwasa has also survived two attempts on his life and other “dissidents”; the 2013 Col. Karegeye murder and expulsion of diplomats from both countries in a tit-for-tat standoff; and a South African judiciary inquest into the murder of Karegeya.

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A Ugandan citizen has petitioned the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) not to appoint the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Justice Irene Mulyagonja, as judge of the Court of Appeal, saying she lacks the integrity required of anybody to serve in that position.

Justice Mulyagonja recently shocked the public when she applied to be considered as judge of the Court of Appeal. She faces competition from a number of other individuals.

The petitioner says those to serve in the judiciary should be people of integrity. “The judiciary being an important arm of government and mandated to dispense justice without fear or favour, it should therefore be staffed with people of integrity,” says the petitioner in his May 29th letter to the Chairperson of JSC, the body mandated to vet judges for appointment.

The petitioner fears that if Justice Mulyagonja is appointed to that post, she will bring the judiciary into disrepute. “She has exhibited gross incompetence, high handedness, nepotism and other corrupt tendencies while executing her work as IGG,” he says.

The petitioner cites the case of Mark Kamanzi, the head of legal at National Drug Authority (NDA) who in May 2018 petitioned the IGG to investigate the wrongs at the drugs body but the IGG never acted. Kamanzi wanted IGG to investigate then MP Medard Bitekyerezo who was Chairperson of NDA board and then Executive Secretary Donna Kusemererwa over a number allegations. Todate, he says the IGG has never given any feedback, the petitioner stating that probably they were bungled and shelved.

He further alleges that in 2015, Ignatius Loyola Malungu, a teacher of Our Lady of Good Counsel SS, Gayaza, petitioned Mulyagonja’s office to investigate an alleged mismanagement of Shs145 million by the then headmistress, Mary Tereza Obbo, who spent that money on food and beverages in disregard of the PPDA Act which requires placement of advertisements inviting suppliers to bid. The petitioner states that Malungu was illegally transferred to Namutumba SS for raising accountability issues of the former school.

The petitioner further accuses Mulyagonja of not acting on a number corruption related cases even when they were reported to her office.

One of those, he says, officials from the inspectorate of government engaged in corruption in the procurement of a contractor for the multi-billion shillings tower to house the inspectorate’s headquarters in Kampala. The inspectorate’s internal procurement and disposal unit and contracts committee, according to the petitioner offered the contract to unqualified joint venture of Roko Construction and contractor-Roko Rwanda which not meet bid conditions as established by PPDA team. He says Mulyagonja watched as her staff changed the conditions to suit the joint venture of Roko Construction and contractor-Roko Rwanda which even didn’t have Shs20 billion minimum cash on its bank account to prove its financial soundness as required by the bid document.

The petitioner also alleges Mulyagonja did not take any action when allegations some time back reached her desk that the Health Ministry had left out qualified people and instead recruited people without qualifications required as medical assistants. They were believed to be related to top officials in the health ministry.

More accusations against Mulyagonja can be read in the letter uploaded

When Eagle Online called Mulyagonja on her mobile phone said it isn’t the first time such allegations come up. She said the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and the appointing authority who happen to be the president have their internal mechanism of verifying such allegations.

“The JSC and the president who appoints judges have their ways of verifying and it isn’t the first as they wrote before that i refused to investigate Muvawala (Joseph, Executive Director of National Planning Authority). However, we leave the process to the JSC and the president” Justice Mulyagonja said.

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