Saturday 23 September 2017

WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT IMPUNITY IN UGANDA


Resist NRM Impunity, Nagenda To Ugandans

Sr. Presidential Advisor John Nagenda has decried high corruption tendencies in Museveni-led Uganda adding that the situation will only worsen unless Ugandans overcome fearfulness and actively speak out
rejecting the vice.
“There is a lot of corruption in Uganda to the extent that I’m embarrassed as a member of the NRM which has been in government for the last 30 years but it’s something we can defeat. I urge you as young people not to fear us your leaders.
He was a key note speaker on Friday at Bugolobi Village Mall-based Book Point where big name South African journalist Mzilikazi Wa Africa’s book was launched for the Ugandan market. The book, which profiles the biggest corruption scandals in South Africa and other countries in the SADC region, is titled “Nothing Left to Steal.”
Flanked by Mzilikazi, the author of the controversial book, Nagenda said the South African situation
written about in the book is relevant and very applicable to what has been happening in Uganda.
“The South African corruption is scandalous and betrayal to Nelson Mandela, the founding father of modern South Africa,” said Mzee Nagenda who so far remains the most outspoken NRM guru against
life presidency.
Your govt impunity is amazing – Bidandi
·         April 22, 2016
·         Written by Observer Media Ltd
 In this letter, the former minister urges Museveni to erase the impression that he is determined to remain president whatever the damage to the country.
Dear Mr President,
Once again, I am addressing Your Excellency on matters that concern our country, on behalf of the People’s Progressive Party. On behalf of the people of Uganda, the People’s Progressive Party is deeply concerned with the manner and your method of leadership, in the office of President, which is destroying our country and Uganda as a nation.
To begin with, your government continues to contemptuously disregard the rule of law and the provisions of our national constitution, in particular, article 99(3).
You have also broken the promise you made to the people of Uganda, under article 98(3) and article 128(3) of the Constitution that you would uphold, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and observe the laws of Uganda. You have made the office of president to be the custodian and fountain of the law and only Your Excellency holds the key.
The constitutional office you hold is responsible for building state institutions; the pillars of democracy and good governance. Mr President, you have instead taken deliberate steps to destroy the institutions by either taking over their constitutional roles or simply undermining them and consequently rendering them impotent. We have chosen to comment on five examples to prove our point. 
THE PARLIAMENT
Mr President, you are aware the legislature is an important arm of the state. It is one of the most vital institutions and pillars in a democracy. Mr President, in your policy of “winning” over the co-operation of parliament, either by using monetary means or sheer dangling of promises of appointment, most members of our parliament have been compromised.
You recall the circumstance, under which the infamous five million shillings plus tax refunds and the so-called Constituency Development Funds, were given to MPs of the seventh (last) Parliament. Two months later, they passed the constitutional amendments that allowed you to stand for president for a third term.
There have been reports in the media of yet another scheme for Parliament to amend the Constitution once again and extend the presidential term of office from five to 10 years so that come 2011, you automatically continue in office for another five years, hence the carrot, in form of an expensive motor vehicle scheme, being suggested by Your Excellency for the present MPs.
Mr President, there is no longer objective debate in our Parliament to-day on important legislation because the NRM MPs, who are the majority in Parliament, have to follow and vote for whatever the NRM caucus has resolved on. And Your Excellency knows very well that in the caucus, an NRM MP is not supposed to oppose the NRM cabinet position.
I do not need to remind Your Excellency that Cabinet is truly subordinated to you and in many instances it endorses the president’s position which is then forwarded to the caucus. Mr President, this type of “cooperation” between the legislature and the executive in Uganda, is not healthy for democracy and good governance and if continued, will ultimately destroy Parliament.
THE JUDICIARY
Mr President, the people of Uganda, through the Constituent Assembly, distributed powers and functions and provided for the checks and balances necessary for good governance. The Judiciary is the custodian of the rule of law and the Constitution. Any law-abiding citizen of Uganda appreciates this arrangement.
Mr President, the impunity with which your government continues to disregard the rule of law in Uganda is amazing. You recall the famous siege of the High court on November 16, 2005 by some elements in the military, which you did not condemn.
Besides your occasional outburst against the courts and Judges, how could your government defy a decision of the High Court of Uganda or indeed the recent Constitutional court ruling of January 12, 2007? Under what constitution are you governing this country? We do not need to remind Your Excellency about the provisions in our National Constitution under articles 3 (1) and 99(3) in defence of our Constitution.  
Mr President, the people of Uganda, were guaranteed freedom to assemble and to demonstrate peacefully and unarmed under article 29 (1) (d) of the Constitution of Uganda.
How do you feel, when on your TV screen, you watch the frequent running battles between opposition party members and police when the people are merely expressing their dismay about the government’s contemptuous disregard of court rulings? Under what laws did the police, for example, stop a Democratic Party victory celebration function at Mukono town? Which laws, Mr President, are Ugandans expected to follow? 
THE POLICE FORCE
Mr President, your government is gradually destroying the professional role of the police by deliberately twinning it with the military and turning the police into an instrument of coercion against the population. The constitutional functions of the police included maintaining law and order, protection of life and property, detection and prevention of crime.
Besides appointing military officers to adorn police uniform, in the office of inspector general of police, long-serving professional officers are being subjected to military training at Kyankwanzi. No wonder one reads about a number of them opting out of service on early retirement. Mr President, given that background, the people of Uganda hold your government responsible for the shoddy performance of the police force in a number of instances. 
THE CABINET
Mr President, you are aware Cabinet is a vital institution exercising specific constitutional powers and responsibilities both collectively and individually. You have rendered the Cabinet irrelevant and your ministers impotent including institutional organs of the various ministries. Most activities of government currently are implementation of directives by the president or President’s Office.
Mr President, your chosen style of leadership of running the country disregarding the formal structures of government, explains the costly mistakes you are making. The people of Uganda continue to watch the unfolding tragedy in total disbelief. 
THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Mr President, posterity will condemn you for infanticide with regard to Local Governments. You have strangled decentralization, your own baby. You recall we created these institutions to encourage and empower citizens to participate in their own governance by providing services to the population. You have engineered the withdrawal of their powers and responsibilities and erased sources of their financial independence.
Local Government Councils are now hapless organs in our society expected to glorify the president and government while waiting for their allowances, which in many cases is a dream of the past. It is amazing; Your Excellency, that today an RDC can nullify a legal decision of a Local Government Council. Mr President, you are aware that under the Local Governments Act, not even the president has the power to do that.
You Excellency, the istances of your government’s self-destruction and destructions of institutions of democratic governance are endless. I have not mentioned the destruction of the environment for which you are a temporary custodian and trustee for generations to come, the wanton allocation of land under the veil of investment, nor the blatant grant of public funds to individuals of your own choice under opaque circumstances.
Finally, Your Excellency, we want to remind you that you are holding the office of president in trust for the people of Uganda, to serve them, protect them and keep this country together, not for those who fought in the bush, or a chosen few. Mr President, you are under obligation therefore to erase the growing public perception that you are preoccupied with remaining in power regardless of the continued damage to the nation your quest entails.
You are under obligation, Your Excellency, to appreciate the fact that Uganda will continue to exist long after we have departed and your legacy should be setting the stage for a peaceful handover of power to a successor, chosen by the people of Uganda through a free and fair electoral process. Such a successor may not necessarily be one from your family, your sect or a veteran from the bush war.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 2 2012
‘Tinyefuza is right on impunity’
By RICHARD WANAMBWA
A senior State House official and an opposition figure yesterday agreed with the Coordinator of Security Services’ warning about the impunity which is threatening to tear the country apart.
Presidential Press Secretary Tamale Mirundi said when Gen. David Sejusa, formerly known as Tinyefuza, makes a statement of the sort he released to Daily Monitor over the weekend, it should be taken seriously because he could know much more.
“Gen. Tinyefuza could be saying if things happen the wrong way, don’t say I never told you and many in NRM are worried. What he raised is shared by intelligence but he is saying it in the open and I agree with him,” Mr Mirundi said.
Mr Mirundi said many in the ruling party are anxious about the party losing popularity as indicated in recent by-elections losses. He said there is a question of succession and those that have amassed wealth through corruption that are threatening the power base.
“The succession fear as we have a group that has amassed wealth that they now fear Museveni because of his stance on tackling corruption, the corrupt want internally to overthrow him. So what Sejusa is saying is right that the party can tackle ahead of 2016.”
Gen. Sejusa in his statement warned against arrogance, impunity, creeping lawlessness and insensitive behaviour among some actors who manage state affairs.

Yoweri Museveni's Impunity Will Cause Catastophy
Press Release
31 January 2007
1.      After 21 years of political, constitutional, military and economic manipulation, the NRM leaders and the emerging life president of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni have manoeuvred themselves into a very dangerous position of impunity in Uganda, which if not checked will ruin this country and cause havoc to the region.
2.      This impunity started in 1979 when Yoweri Museveni as a defence minister in the UNLF administration abused his position by massively recruiting and training his FRONASA force. It is this personal army, and not those so-called 27 men, that wrecked havoc in the Luwero triangle and eventually took over government illegally.
3.      Once in government Yoweri Museveni has perfected his personal stronghold over the recruitment, training and deployment of the NRA/UPDF. He is the Commander- in- chief of the army and controls all procurement by the army which position he invariably abuses.
4.      With impunity and an iron hand, Yoweri Museveni has militarily deployed the NRA/UPDF in expensive military misadventures in Rwanda , Burundi, Republic of Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia , Eritrea and now Somalia . In all these adventures thousands of Ugandan soldiers have been killed and used to kill, maim and loot.
5.      The most recent adventure is the UPDF's deployment in Somalia. Long before Ethiopian authorities admitted entering into Somalia , Museveni had sent men and arms to fight alongside the Ethiopian forces in Somalia against the Islamic Courts Union. This deployment was done when UN military embargo was in force and when there was no request by the United Nations or African Union for peace keeping forces. The UPDF trained and entered Somalia over six months ago in an act of partisan impunity by Yoweri Museveni. UPC calls upon the Parliament of Uganda, the African Union and United Nations not to be hoodwinked to embrace this impunity by legitimising Museveni's military adventure in Somalia.
6.      Museveni's impunity has not been restricted to the personalised handling of Uganda army. It has embraced every facet of national life. On politics and democracy, he has ensured that even after the legal opening up of political space, opposition parties are not allowed to function freely.
7.      The police and UPDF disguised as police have been deployed by Yoweri Museveni, to forcefully break up opposition demonstrations, rallies and assemblies. In blatant breach of the Constitution and the Police Act, the Police has arrogated to itself the responsibility of giving permission to the opposition political parties when, where and how to assemble, even though the Constitution is very clear that fundamental human rights and freedoms which include the right to associate, assemble and demonstrate are inherent and not granted by the state.
8.      In this forceful impunity, Yoweri Museveni has ensured that no meaningful political contest takes place. It is now routine for police to beat up peaceful citizens and to fire tear gas into their midst, vehicles and premises.
9.      The worst case of impunity by Yoweri Museveni has been his blatant acts to break the back of the Judiciary as an institution. He has systematically starved it of human and financial resources and is in an advanced stage of abolishing the constitutionally provided security of tenure of judges. The latest attempt has been the purported, forceful and premature retirement of Hon. Justice Okumu Wengi when his complaint against the Judicial Service Commission is pending judgement in the High Court.
10. To ensure that the judiciary is stripped of its Constitutional role, Yoweri Museveni has, in breach of the Constitution, refused to recognise and enforce the High Court decision to grant bail to the eleven PRA suspects. This, in effect, is an act of overthrowing the 1995 Constitution of Uganda and all Ugandans are constitutionally called upon to protect the Constitution.
11. The attack on the institution of the Judiciary which is the final arbiter on fundamental human rights and freedoms now exposes the country to a total breakdown of the rule of law and risks of rebellion. As early as 1948 the authors of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the preamble, recognised that "it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by rule of law."
12. The NRM government has for two decades manipulated politics with impunity under the monolithic one Party dictatorship. UPC had hoped that under the new multiparty political dispensation, it would realise the realities of multiparty democracy. The NRM has refused to abandon impunity in the management of public affairs; it continues to detain the PRA suspects in flagrant breach of court orders; it continues to intimidate the opposition and brutally interfere with their rallies and meetings using violence by the Police and other security agents.
13. In view of the circumstances prevailing in the country, the UPC has decided to suspend its participation in the Inter Party Committee with immediate effect until there are real actions to stop harassment of the opposition, restoration of the rule of law and transparency in the running of the country.
Mama Miria Kalule Obote
President, Uganda People’s Congress
Time for Ugandans to Act to End Impunity by Our Leaders
Religious Leaders, the Women’s Movement, the youth and several other formations have all made submissions to the relevant Committee in Parliament, all in the hope that Parliament would enact comprehensive proposals to guarantee free and fair elections in 2016 and beyond. All the above were done in good time and yet Parliament and the government chose the path of ignoring all these efforts and not listening to voices of citizens and even proposals from within 2 government! The Committee tasked with the responsibility of considering these important reforms had the time to move around the country listening to citizen views, they had time to go to other countries ostensibly to benchmark, drawing huge per diems and costing the tax payers billions and yet they come back and say there is not time to consider comprehensive reforms! All this at a time when Parliament has the time to consider, debate and pass decisions to increase the number of constituencies and set the stage for a huge Legislature that will come at enormous cost to service delivery is not just a betrayal of the trust Ugandans have put in Parliament, but clearly a sign that there is no will in the 9th Parliament and the Executive to listen to important voices for electoral reforms. The issue is not about time; rather it is about choice of priorities by our leaders. Citizens are again being taken for a ride as it was in 2010 when the Government said there was no time, and committed to ensure that the reforms would be the first agenda of Government during the first two years after the 2011 elections. The Way Forward With the government acting with impunity and in total disregard of citizen voices, once again the country is on course to miss an opportunity to build consensus and pull in one direction to deliver free and fair elections. This is likely to increase disillusionment by citizens who will likely turn away from electoral processes to the detriment of the broader democratization agenda. There is no way the elections can be free and fair without comprehensive electoral reforms as proposed by citizens and the unfortunate scenes that have defined our previous elections are likely to be seen again. It is clear, that with the re-emergence of stick-wielding militias like Kalangala Action Plan, the numerous vigilante groups and partisan security establishment and yet a determined citizens seeking reforms for free and fair elections, connected to a quest for greater dignity and opportunity for all. As civil society, it is now clear that Parliament and our leaders will not listen to citizens for as long as we remain doing the same things and expecting different results. It is no guarantee that all our analysis and submissions will lead to the changes we desire. It is therefore critical that we harness the power in us to exert more pressure for the government and our leaders not to take us for granted. We would like to inform the general public as follows: a) We insist, that without comprehensive electoral reforms, as contained in the Citizens Compact on Free and Fair Elections, among others, there can never be free and fair elections. As civil society, we shall be meeting on Friday this week after which we shall announce our collective decision regarding our involvement in the forthcoming general elections in 2016. b) We will continue to focus on citizen mobilization and pressure to ensure reforms are instituted before any elections take place. We do not see the need to put energy in an electoral process that will simply lead to a fraudulent outcome. c) Considering the consistent disregard by Parliament and the Executive of the views of citizens on Electoral Reforms, we shall explore the option of taking Parliament to Court for ignoring citizen views and further consider the option of an injunction to any election until comprehensive reforms are enacted to guarantee free and fair elections. d) Our Constitution confers all power in the hands of the people but as indicated above, even when citizens play their part, leaders in Government and in Parliament simply ignore. We call upon all Ugandans to pursue all civil means to ensure comprehensive reforms are implemented and reconsider their support to a process that can only lead to a fraud.· Most recently, under the leadership of the Uganda National NGO Forum, national citizens consultations on Free and Fair Elections took place across the country in Karamoja, Acholi, Lango, West Nile, Bunyoro, Toro, Busoga, Bukedi, Sebei, Bugisu, Buganda, Ankole and Kigezi, culminating in a national event convened in Kampala on November 24-26, 2014 where over 1,300 leaders from all over the country adopted The Citizens Compact on Free and Free and Fair Elections that was presented to the Speaker of Parliament. · Civil Society Organisations through the Citizens Coalition on Electoral Democracy (CCEDU) as early as 2010 came up with critical proposals needed for Elections in Uganda to be free and fair · The Electoral Commission itself has made proposals as early as 2013 and even developed a roadmap and timelines necessary for the Elections to be carried out in a better fashion than in previous years. · Under the Inter Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD), over the last three years,Political Parties, including the NRM came up with several comprehensive proposals for Electoral Reforms that led to a relatively detailed document that Cabinet has been considering since last year. ·A Civil Society Statement on the need for Comprehensive Electoral Reforms before the next General Elections August 17th 2015 Introduction Not for the first time, Parliament and the Executive, two important arms of Government have once again joined hands to ignore popular views of Ugandans on critical reforms needed to guarantee Free and Fair Elections. Consistent disregard of citizen views and other actors with a stake in Uganda does not only border on arrogance by our leaders in charge of government and Parliament, but could lead to instability for this country. Notwithstanding the merits in some of the proposals in the recently passed Constitutional Amendments on August 11th 2015 by Parliament, for all intents and purposes, that piece of legislation had absolutely nothing to do with the expected comprehensive reforms that Ugandans, from across the political divide have demanded for the last 10 years. Of all the 11 provisions of the proposed Constitutional Amendments passed by Parliament on Tuesday 11th August 2015, the only one that had a proposal connected to the elections was the introduction of the word ‘Independent’ before the name Electoral Commission. Evidence of Impunity: A Government that doesn’t listen to its people and itself! Over the last 5 years, Ugandans under their various formations have organised and invested enormous energy and resources to come up with comprehensive electoral reforms for government’s consideration. The following efforts have been roundly ignored:
Security operatives commit murder with impunity
Uganda has been ruled by a brutal dictator – Museveni – for 26 years during which thousands of Ugandans have been killed ,tortured by merciless killer squads”untouchable” putting on police, army uniforms and sometime plain clothed security operatives that have powerful god fathers in government. The government has failed to restrain them or bring them to book in order to create a state of fear among civilians .In Uganda a security operative is free to kill any opposition member and ‘s assured he will always walk away scout free.
These are some of the cases of individual killings in the name of the state that have been protected by the state
Jan. 2012: Police officer Santos Komakech Makmot shot at unarmed civilians killing one and injuring three others instead of shooting in the air to disperse the crowd. He is now remanded in Luzira prison but his boss George Agaba who handed him the gun was released on police bond.
April 2011: Gilbert Arinaitwe viciously attacked Besigye in April 2011 temporarily blinding him leading to hospitalization in full glare of cameras. Arinaitwe is a free man and no known punishment has been meted out on him.

April 2011: Peter Bimanywa, the operations commander of the Masaka Reserve Force, was arrested for commanding the soldiers that indiscriminately shot at Walk-to-Work protesters in April 2011 that left 2 year-old baby Julian Nalwanga dead.
April 2011: Paul Mugenyi, a reserve force operative attached to Masaka Reserve Force central barracks was arrested in connection with baby Julian Nalwanga’s death. After the murder police boss Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura paraded Mugenyi to the residents at the home of Aloysius Walusimbi promising that he would be charged in the court martial and left the bereaved family with Shs 1 million. But Mugenyi and Bimanywa are yet to be court-martialed.
 2006: Lt. Ramathan Magara randomly shot at a crowd of Dr Kizza Besigye’s supporters at Bulange Mengo during the 2006 presidential campaigns, killing two people and permanently maiming two others. Lt. Magara, who had evaded a high court trial for three years, was later arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2009. Magara had been charged with two counts; murder and attempted murder. He was accused of murdering Gideon Makabayi and Vincent Kavuma and attempting to murder Haruna Byamukama. But Justice Wilson Kwesiga reduced the charges to manslaughter. Until then cases of indiscriminate and random public shootings of civilians by security personnel were rare outside the war zone of northern Uganda since President Museveni took power in 1986.
February 4, 2001: A vehicle with government registration plates deliberately drove into a crowd of Col Besigye’s supporters at Namanve, fourteen kilometers outside of Kampala. Three people were killed and eleven injured. The driver of the vehicle walked away scot-free.killing two people and permanently maiming two others. Lt. Magara, who had evaded a high court trial for three years, was later arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to 14 years in jail in 2009. Magara had been charged with two counts; murder and attempted murder. He was accused of murdering Gideon Makabayi and Vincent Kavuma and attempting to murder Haruna Byamukama. But Justice Wilson Kwesiga reduced the charges to manslaughter. Until then cases of indiscriminate and random public shootings of civilians by security personnel were rare outside the war zone of northern Uganda since President Museveni took power in 1986.
Nowa new saga involving KCCA planning Director George Ninsima Agaba a strong NRM supporter, close friend to Museveni in charge of the KCCA demolition squad went to Luzira with any army of enforcement staff wielding claw bars, sticks, and batons and ordered bulldozers to start razing structures that had allegedly been erected without authorization. The condemned structures included roadside kiosks and  stalls, and residential houses. Newspaper reports said the demolished buildings housed between 60 and 70 families. KCCA claims they were erected on a road reserve. Area local administration leaders said the evictions were carried out with notice to them, the police, and the victims.
During the eviction, a dismayed crowd pleaded with Agaba to halt the evictions for a few minutes to let them salvage some household property but he refused. “We gave you 28 days eviction notice. We can’t accept anything,” Agaba told the pleading residents Soon gunshots were fired as desperate victims threw themselves at the enforcement officers; soon four people lay on the ground. One was dead, while the other three were seriously wounded. The gun that shot them, an AK47 automatic rifle, was Agaba’s. He picked it from his truck and attempted to fire it when the mayhem erupted. Although the gun jammed when Agaba tried to fire it, his bodyguard, Santos Komakech Makmot, was more successful when he took hold of it.
In 2009 more than 27 people were shot dead by Uganda security operatives as demonstration over the government decision to block the Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, from visiting Kayunga district. Nobody was charged over the killings.



Tuesday 19 September 2017

OPEN LETTER TO THE INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE (IGP) GENERAL KALE KAIHURA

Dear General Kaihura,

I am writing to you in three capacities that is: as an Old Boy of St. Mary’s College Kisubi which you joined in 1974 as an HSC student; as an opposition politician whose rights have been trampled on by the NRM Government and as a concerned Ugandan.

As an Old Boy, I feel I have mandate to write to you in that at least I have been involved in activities for the benefit of the Old Boys of St. Mary’s College Kisubi.  These among others include: Mobilizing Old Boys for the School Centenary which took place in 2006; as Editor of SMACK 100 Centenary Magazine; as a leading publisher on St. Mary’s College Kisubi; and most recently as a mobilizer of the Old Boys of the School to contribute to the funding of the HSC Storey Block under construction.  In this capacity, I wish to remind you that as an Old Boys, it is incumbent upon you to act as a Catholic Leader you are supposed to be.  As I write, there is an important debate of changing the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda to give President Museveni opportunity to the Life Presidency scheme. So far the officers below you have shown a partisan tendency.  While the public who wish to show support for the scheme of removing the Presidential age are free to show their colours; your officers do nor give opportunity to those opposed to the scheme however peaceful they are.  As your OB, I wish to tell you that when you leave this to go on as it is, you are not just and the public easily see this.  It is best that you let all the people express their wish as long as they are peaceful.  As a Christian and a Catholic, you ought to know what is just.  Under normal circumstances, President Museveni would be handing over power on reaching 75 years, more so after the removal of the Presidential term limits. This is important on your part as the leader of the Uganda Police Force.  You need to be a just man more so when you confess that you are a Catholic leader.

General Kale Kaihura, by this time I hope you know that I wanted to contest the Presidency of Uganda.  Unlike other Presidential candidates, I relied on the strength of my ability to mobilize having gone to a prestigious school where you were for Higher School.  True, some people may have been overwhelmed when they saw the response to my fundraising appeal in 2010.  However, I believe it would have been best for those concerned to consult me over this development.  Instead, they tried to make me believe that I did not realize a single coin in my fundraising efforts.  Of course I could not take any serious action because I imagined that the state had some interest. So, I did not contest in 2011 because I was denied access to funds that were to help me in my campaigns.

Mr. Kaihura Sir, the people of Uganda later learnt that there had been a fraud in Cairo International Bank.  I will not go to the details; however, information concerning bits of that fraud is attached.  It is sad that as I write, your office has not been able to tell Ugandans the source of the money.  No effort has been made to recover the funds from those who fraudulently benefitted.  I believe I was supposed to be a beneficiary of some of the money that was dished out.  General Kaihura, you are aware that Mr. Keith Muhakanizi was asked about shs 80bn or so which was deposited to NSSF for the benefit of Civil Servants.  Keith Muhakanizi said that the money was not part of the Government budget.

Mr. Kaihura Sir, when I was reading I studied hard for a better future.  Today, you are employed by the Government of Uganda, I also love to live decently.  I was from a poor background, but I have gone through many trials during the time of the NRM administration. I want you to have a second thought about my case.  I am not supposed to live the life of a pauper to which the NRM Government has condemned me to. Prior to the 2016 Presidential elections, as early as October 2014, I started my campaign for support to stand for President of Uganda. I changed banks and this time opened an account with Barclays bank. It disturbs me that the trend on 2010 is what I have experienced, no single coin through Barclays bank to my knowledge.  As you play your roles as Police Chief, I request you to be fair.  If the powers that be denied me opportunity to stand for President of Uganda, please release the funds due to my fundraising so that I can play a role in the betterment of the impoverished people of Uganda.  I have made appeals to the President; the NRM Chief whip, and nobody responds to my cries. The ball is in your court.  I seek justice.

Below is some information to do with the fraud in Cairo Bank where I believe funds due to me ended up with funny beneficiaries, and your office has nor endeavoured to tell Ugandans who was supposed to be the right full beneficiary of these funds.
   
PEN­SION SCAM: Bank of Uganda faulted for lax­ity, Cairo In­ter­na­tional Bank ad­mits wrong do­ing.
Dis­cussed in the Public Accounts Committee on July 7th, 2015
Home » Meet­ings » PEN­SION SCAM: Bank of Uganda faulted for lax­ity, Cairo In­ter­na­tional Bank ad­mits wrong do­ing.

7th July 2015
The Par­lia­men­tary Pub­lic Ac­counts Com­mit­tee (PAC) has faulted Cairo In­ter­na­tional Bank for fa­cil­i­tat­ing and abet­ting fraud in the Shs.165 bil­lion pen­sion scam and faulted Bank of Uganda for lax­ity in its reg­u­la­tory and su­per­vi­sory role.
The com­mit­tee, which is cur­rently prob­ing  the fi­nan­cial im­pro­pri­ety of the pen­sion fund in the min­istry of pub­lic ser­vice met with of­fi­cials from Bank of Uganda and the man­age­ment of Cairo In­ter­na­tional Bank to hear their in­volve­ment in the pen­sion scam.
In­ves­ti­ga­tions found that bank ac­counts were opened up in Cairo In­ter­na­tional Bank in the names of for­mer em­ploy­ees of the de­funct East African Com­mu­nity or their ben­e­fi­cia­ries and their re­spec­tive gra­tu­ity monies were chan­nelled to the ac­counts.
Mr Be­nard Sek­abira the di­rec­tor su­per­vi­sion, Bank of Uganda told the com­mit­tee that in Feb­ru­ary 2009, the cen­tral Bank is­sued a re­port to Cairo Bank de­tail­ing sev­eral ir­reg­u­lar­i­ties which did not com­ply with statu­tory in­stru­ment 46, 2010 KYC (Know your Cus­tomer) which re­quires that every bank must know their cus­tomer.
It was re­vealed that sev­eral ac­counts were opened with­out ad­e­quate doc­u­ments, there was no risk pro­fil­ing, cus­tomer’s thumb prints were not cap­tured and there was no due dili­gence car­ried out by the bank on its cus­tomers and tele­phone num­bers on the ac­count doc­u­ments were nonex­is­tent among sev­eral other ir­reg­u­lar­i­ties. The same ac­counts were used to siphon 165 bil­lion to ghost pen­sion­ers.
The com­mit­tee heard heart break­ing tes­ti­monies from pen­sion­ers of the de­funct East African Com­mu­nity and Uganda Rail­ways Cor­po­ra­tion, whose pho­tographs were used on fake ac­counts to with­draw money pur­port­edly as their pen­sion and gra­tu­ity.
Ob­ulo Og­wal 68 years old pen­sioner told PAC that on 1st Nov 2012, his pho­to­graph ap­peared in the news­pa­pers against the name Wandira Joseph Paul. Po­lice at Kibuli Po­lice sta­tion told him that 74 mil­lion was paid as his claim and yet he never re­ceived the money.
Pon­siano Odida (72), pen­sioner from Gulu while nar­rat­ing his or­deal said, “….but the mis­ery we the pen­sion­ers are hav­ing is very painful. We live in the hands of our chil­dren. It is very painful to see our only sources of money-pen­sion be­ing played with. My pho­to­graph ap­peared in the pa­pers un­der the name Loloviko. I was told that my shs. 81 mil­lion was paid to Loloviko. …Am a mis­er­able man, I live off my chil­dren.”
Mu­loki David (70) tes­ti­fied that his pho­to­graph was used to pay a one Sabi­iti John Cos­mas shs.89 mil­lion.
Jimmy Busulwa: (69) said shs. 75 mil­lion was paid to Han­ning­ton Basaj­jakambwe signed for by Mr. Saj­jabi, hav­ing told the bank that he was too old and too weak to come for the money.
The Act­ing Ex­ec­u­tive Di­rec­tor Cairo Bank Mr Osama Dar­wish ad­mit­ted to the in­volve­ment of the bank of­fi­cials but said they did so as in­di­vid­u­als and all this was done be­hind the man­age­men­t’s back.
When asked how such ac­counts could be opened with­out the knowl­edge of man­age­ment, and how huge sums of money were with­drawn based on sus­pi­cious with­drawal forms, the Man­ag­ing Di­rec­tor said he had no an­swers.
Mr. Osama how­ever said, “Ob­vi­ously there was a con­spir­acy in­volv­ing in­di­vid­u­als work­ing with the bank and of­fi­cials from Min­istry of Pub­lic ser­vice and un­til the po­lice in­ves­ti­ga­tions started top man­age­ment was not aware of the on­go­ing fraud but the in­di­vid­u­als have since been charged and their em­ploy­ment ter­mi­nated”
Mr. Osama nar­rated how Rahma and Sen­togo who were work­ing at the bank at the time had con­nived with Pe­ter Saj­jabi (rep­re­sent­ing the for­mer em­ploy­ees of the de­funct EAC) to with­draw mil­lions of money at a time us­ing forged sig­na­tures and ques­tion­able with­drawal slips
Hon Ababiku Woman MP Ababiku “Is­n’t Cairo bank part of the rot that is rob­bing peo­ple in this coun­try?”
Mr. Osama in re­sponse said that, “The scam was like a ham­mer on the head and we have since in­sti­tuted stronger in­ter­nal con­trol mea­sures, the qual­ity of staff and all mea­sures to ad­dress the gaps and com­ply­ing with the reg­u­la­tor Bank of Uganda es­pe­cially with the in­stru­ment KYC.”
The PAC chair­per­son Hon Al­ice Alaso said that, “Cairo In­ter­na­tional Bank de­lib­er­ately fa­cil­i­tated the pen­sion fraud by al­low­ing money to be si­phoned through their sys­tem and lead­ing to bil­lions of tax pay­er’s money be­ing to the lost.”
The Pub­lic Ac­counts Com­mit­tee also faulted Bank of Uganda for fail­ing to reg­u­late and su­per­vise com­mer­cial banks lead­ing to such cases of fraud.
Bank of Uganda de­fended it­self say­ing they did their role and took ac­tion against Cairo bank in­clud­ing down­grad­ing the bank and di­rect­ing it to ap­point a new board af­ter re­peated ir­reg­u­lar­i­ties and lapses and sub­ject­ing the new board and top man­age­ment to the BoU fit and proper as­sess­ment.
“Do you con­sider that the ac­tion taken by Bank of Uganda was ad­e­quate to avert this cri­sis be­yond di­rect­ing for the change of the board?” in­quired the PAC chair­per­son Hon Al­ice Alaso.
The deputy gov­er­nor Bank of Uganda, Dr. Louis Kasek­ende said that from the reg­u­la­tory point of view BOU can only strength the man­age­ment and con­trol of the board.
Hon Alaso” What is clear hear is that we can’t con­tinue lean­ing on BoU to pro­tect us. We have old pen­sion­ers whose money was taken be­cause of the lax­ity of the bank in car­ry­ing out its su­per­vi­sory and reg­u­la­tory man­date.”
Dr. Kasek­ende re­it­er­ated that Cairo bank only con­trols 0.6% of the mar­ket share and that BoU is sat­is­fied with the risk man­age­ment in the fi­nan­cial sec­tor as a whole and the cen­tral bank’s su­per­vi­sion and reg­u­la­tion should be com­mended. He asked that con­clu­sions should not be drawn sim­ply based on the ex­pe­ri­ence of Cairo Bank.

Lawyer Sought Shs1bn from Cairo Bank to Bribe Police

http://www.chimpreports.com/exclusive-lawyer-sought-shs1bn-from-cairo-bank-to-bribe-police/
A covert security unit is investigating claims that a lawyer with Kabega & Tumusiime Advocates asked for $300, story http://cienciaaldia.com/wp-includes/simplepie/caption.php 000 from their client Cairo International Bank (CIB) to pay police officers who were part of the investigation into the plunder of Shs169bn pension funds, http://challengemetennis.com/wp-admin/includes/widgets.php including CIID Director, http://cheapcouriercomparison.com.au/wp-includes/class-wp-editor.php Grace Akullo.
According to leaked emails which security sources say have provided a crucial lead in the investigation of alleged bribery of CIID officers, lawyer Tom Magezi reportedly wrote to CIB boss Nabil Ghanem on April 3, 2014 expressing shock that the new Director of Public Prosecution Mike Chibita was giving them headache.
In the email titled, “Unusual non-cooperation encountered from the New DPP, the bank is upheld on charge sheet,” Magezi allegedly boasts that despite the challenges with Chibita, the “Director Criminal Investigations is still with us and has expressed surprise (of resistance from Chibita).”
Magezi purportedly added: “Our contact has called for any documents that can exonerate the bank,” adding, “She (Akullo) is to explore ways to include them.”
The lawyer, according to the email, further told Nabil that; “The lawyers are of the opinion that USD300K (Shs1bn) should cover our team of 7 officials at the Police district in addition to another 7 officials at the prosecution plus the CIID boss.”
The emails, which security said are taking as a “very serious matter” and could lead to the prosecution of lawyers in this case, are described by Magezi as “confidential.”
Magezi is said to have pressed Nabil: “I seek your immediate approval through the board most urgently before the retreat starts for end of month.”
Magezi also unveiled details about a meeting with the company lawyer only identified in the email as Tumusiime.
“Mr Tumusiime says meeting attended by senior contact was very good and confirmed nothing shall happen. Therefore the position is no senior management official will be prosecuted,” he assured Nabil, who appeared desperate to ‘kill’ case.
Magezi reportedly sent the emails using his Yahoo Mail on his Smartphone using the androidoperating system.
Nabil, according to another leaked letter, would later write to CIB board, about the lawyers’ “bill for USD300, 000 related to the pensioners scam.”
He added: “I will pay it on monthly basis as agreed upon by means of two contracts once approved by the board. Your decision is required.”
Nabil further said the “first contract is for USD118,000 approximately to cover the very early stages of the investigation and sudden hold up in September for 6 of our staff that includes Mohammed Tarek, General Operations Manager.”
“The second contract is for the remaining balance for USD 182,000 that also covers part of the previous investigations followed by the prosecution stage and the coming trial.”
In what appears as an admission of guilt, Nabil added: “It was clear during the daily questioning that for the first few days that the accusations were directed to two of our management who committed this conspiracy.”
He described Kabega & Tumusiime Advocates as “very reputable, honest and has represented the bank for long time ago.”
The new revelations are likely to pile more pressure on CIB, Akullo and lawyers handling the case to provide clearer explanations regarding fresh allegations of bribery.
The Shs169bn can tarmac 169 kilometers of a dusty road at Shs1bn per kilometer.
Akullo has since denied receiving a bribe, saying she only heard from former Principal Accountant in the Public Service Christopher Obey and other suspects in the pension scam that they had sent her Shs1bn to ‘kill’ the case.
MP Abdu Katuntu this week expressed shock that Akullo did not immediately take action after the suspects she was investigating for plundering public resources openly told her they had passed on a bribe through a journalist to her.
ChimpReports was unable to reach Cairo International Bank officials for comment. The office line for Tumusiime & Kabega Advocates also went unanswered on Friday afternoon.
However, it should be remembered that during the hearing of the case, CIB’s lawyer MacDusman W. Kabega publicly argued that Akullo had promised to give the bank lawyers a fresh report which “would be used in court not the old one.”
Lawyers prayed to court to ignore detective Komurubuga’s first investigative report since a new one would be issued by a senior officer.
But prosecution went ahead with the probe in which CIID continued sharing their findings with the DPP.

Pension: BoU downgrades Cairo Bank

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Pension--BoU-downgrades-Cairo-Bank/688334-1856442-86ht5vz/index.html

By CHRIS OBORE
Investigations into the payment of at least Shs63 billion to 1,018 nonexistent or “ghost” pensioners through Cairo International Bank (CIB) reveal that the bank ignored warnings to adhere to ethical and regulatory standards.
Bank of Uganda (BoU) has since downgraded CIB’s performance from fair to marginal. This means the bank, with customer deposits of Shs36 billion, according to BoU, is operating on the edge.
Documents seen by the Sunday Monitor also show that the bank had earlier been penalised by the regulator (BoU) over abnormal operations. CIB was thrust into the limelight after police started investigations into the payment of Shs63 billion to “ghost” East African Community Beneficiaries Association (EACOBA) members. The scam, which has since grown to more than Shs300 billion, led to the arrest and prosecution of two junior bank officials and three senior government officials in the Ministry of Public Service and one businessman.
‘Bank culpable’
They are Ms Rahma Nakigozi and Mr Ishaka Abdallah Ssentongo from the bank; Mr Jimmy Lwamafa – permanent secretary, Mr Christopher Obey – principal accountant, pension and Mr David Oloka – accounts assistant from the Public Service ministry; as well as Mr Peter Ssajjabi from EACOBA.
Curiously, the police did not prefer charges against the bank or its senior officials, saying the bank played no role in the scam. But BoU in a letter dated November 12, 2012 and signed by the Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, reveals the culpability of the bank in the scam.
“Bank of Uganda’s examination of the pensioners’ transaction at Cairo International Bank, revealed that the bank’s officials did not exercise adequate due diligence in the execution of the transactions relating to the pensioners,” Mr Mutebile wrote.
He added: “Please note that all the enclosed examination report’s highlighted weaknesses in the banks account opening process. Repeated directives were issued to the bank to rectify the anomalies but the bank did not ensure full compliance.”
In a letter addressed to the director of Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Directorate (CIID), Mr Mutebile revealed that when CIB failed to comply, on August 21, 2012, Bank of Uganda penalised CIB for failure to deal with issues raised in previous reports such as streamlining the Know-Your-Customer and other account opening procedures.

Pension theft figure shoots to Shs150bn

https://www.independent.co.ug/pension-theft-figure-shoots-shs150bn/

By Independent Team
How Godfathers protected main player in the grand theft
On Monday, November 28, 2011, a man identified as Benon Byamukama of Kitovu LC I in Mbarara walked into Cairo International Bank main branch on Plot 30 Kampala Road to open a savings account as a member of the East African Community Beneficiaries Association (EACOBA). He presented a letter of introduction signed by the National Secretary of the association, Peter Ssajjabbi.
According to details on Byamukama’s Account Opening Form, he was born on April 5, 1949 and is currently a farmer. His pension number is 80535. His account number in Cairo Bank is given as 14699/511.
Exactly seven work days later, on Tuesday December 8, 2011, Byamukama’s account received an Electronic Funds Transfer credit of Shs 62,900,190. That same day, the manager of Cairo International Bank received a letter from Byamukama on EACOBA-headed paper asking that his account be closed and all the money on it, Shs 62 million, be transferred to the account of Peter Ssajjabi. The next day, Byamukama signed a receipt confirming he had got Shs 61,460,000 from Cairo Bank. End of story?
Not exactly because something was not right about this transaction and over 1000 others (and many thousands more – we are yet to know) that involved EACOBA National secretary, Ssajjabbi, Cairo Bank, and officials of the ministry of Public Service and the ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Kampala.
The Independent has 1,016 names of EACOBA members who “received” their pensions from Public Service through Cairo Bank. All of them were introduced to the bank to open savings accounts by Peter Ssajjabbi using one generic letter – only changing the name of the beneficiary. All of them would, upon receipt of money to their account write a generic letter saying:
“This is to request you to effect a direct cash payment accruing out of my final EAC Termination Benefits amount of Uganda Shs…. I am currently unable to maintain a bank account with Cairo International Bank due to the fact that I am presently residing outside Kampala and cannot sustain the cost of regular travel to and from the Bank. By copy of this letter, you are hereby authorized to debit my account no… and pay through Peter Ssajjabbi, the National Secretary EACOBA all amounts accruing from the above transactions less bank charges…”
The first suspicion was first raised when the Assistant Commissioner of Inspection and Internal Audit in the ministry of Finance, Fikison Akonye Okonye and several auditors analysed these transactions early this year and raised several queries. According to information obtained by The Independent, on March 12, 2012, Okonye wrote to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Public Service, Jimmy Lwamafa, that there were ghost pensioners being paid through Cairo Bank.
According to official practice, for a commissioner in the ministry of finance to write to a PS in another ministry raising audit queries, the letter needs to be copied to the Permanent secretary/Secretary to the Treasury, the deputy, and the Accountant General. It was not. Worse still, there is no evidence that Lwamafa replied Okonye’s letter. In fact, there is no evidence that Okonye did anything about the ghost pensioners.
The question now is why did Okonye not follow through on this letter? There are many speculations. Had he been sidelined from the loot and used this letter to threaten officials in public service to include him and when they did so he went silent? It is difficult to say. However, The Independent’s investigations and exposure of this anomaly to CID was the reason police arrested Okonye last week.
But returning to the payments at Cairo Bank, a number of questions became apparent. Why would someone open an account, receive millions of shillings from the ministry of Public Service on it, and immediately terminate the account? It would be understandable if this was a one off, a two off or even a three off. But when it involved over 1,000 beneficiaries all giving their money to one person, totaling Shs 63 billion, then there surely must be a problem.
Why did all the beneficiaries open accounts in Cairo Bank? Why did they all give the same reason for closing the account? Why would a pensioner open an account with a bank that has no branch in their local town? Besides, since the money payable was on average over Shs 60 million, why would a pensioner fail to afford the travel costs? And, finally, why did they all instruct the bank to transfer all the money to one man; Peter Ssajjabbi?
When CID went to work, investigators noticed a pattern and immediately suspected fraud. In all cases, the first page in the transaction was an introduction letter of the beneficiary to the bank by Ssajjabi saying I know this person as a beneficiary of the EAC terminal benefits scheme. Ssajjabi would also issue ID for the beneficiary.
Since all the Account Opening Forms had passport photos and telephone numbers of the beneficiaries, the CID investigators shifted to these and immediately noticed anomalies. Among the pictures used to open accounts is one of Abbass Byakagaba, who is currently an Assistant Inspector of Police in charge of the Oil and Gas Protection Unit. The photos used were forgeries. CID officials new Byakagaba because he is their colleague!
Next the CID investigators decided to call the thousands of telephone numbers one by one. They found that some of the phone numbers were real and others fake. In the case of Benon Byamukama, there were two telephone numbers; 0714614713 and 0772462828. Both do not exist. The Cairo Bank customer called Benon Byamukama is, apparently, a forgery.
Crooked bank
On the Cairo Bank side, CID noticed that the letters were not acknowledged as received by the bank. Secondly, all the thousands of transactions were handled by only one cashier. Why? Surprisingly, the bank was also charging 2% of the amount for each deposit. Why? Ssajjabbi claims there was a meeting of the association which agreed that the bank takes 2% of each deposit plus Shs150,000 for opening special accounts without initial deposit.
It appears, however, that the bank violated every rule in this transaction. For example, the authorization that Ssajjabi spoke about would have required a resolution of the EACOBA association to be attached. There are no minutes of such a meeting or a notarized resolution by the association confirming such a claim. Was Cairo Bank really innocent in ignoring such glaring gaps?
According to documents seen by The Independent, it appears either the bank or its employees also decided to cash in on the scam. On some bank documents, the Electronic Funds Transfer would show money coming in for a specific account, then bank staff would alter the account number using pens and divert it to different accounts.
Initial reports being investigated by the police have focused on Shs 63 billion involved in the dubious transaction from February to October 2011. This figure, however, does not include thefts beginning in 2008 when the ministry of Public service introduced the so-called Pension Management System.