By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: State Minister for Investment and Privatisation Evelyn Anite is soon swallowing her words about sacking Bemanya Twebaze as the administrator of Uganda Telecom Limited.
This is because Bemanya’s contract as Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) boss has been renewed before it could even expire.
Spy Uganda has learnt that Bemanya quietly secured an extension of his five-year contract nine months before it elapsed and in the middle of a storm over administration of Uganda Telecom (UTL) affairs.
Initially, the custom has been that the Board of Directors sit two months before expiry of the term of office for such senior government officials, asses their performance, before deciding whether to renew the contracts or not. However, to the shock of many Ugandans, Anite inclusive, Bemanya has broken the history by being the first government official to have his contract renewed long before its expiry date. Spy Uganda has established that Bemanya’s contract as Registrar General was renewed on June 19, 2019 and it is to take effect in March 2020 till 2025.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire renewed Bemanya’s contract on June 27, 2019.
Aletter from Otafiire to Bemanya reads in part thus “I am pleased to inform you that pursuant to section 14 (1) of the URSB Act and to the recommendation by the Board of Directors communicates to me by the chairman URSB in his letter dated June 19, 2019, Your contract has been renewed as Registrar General, Uganda Registration Services Bureau.”
Although the renewing of his contract raised eyebrows among many Ugandans, Bemanya argued that his strong leadership skills and performance have led to the new development. Bemanya said URSB managed to collect Non-Tax Revenue (NTR) of Shs56.2Bn against a target of Shs40.1 Bn set by the Ministry of Finance in the last financial year, reason why his excellent performance was appreciated and recognized with a new contract.
However, it remains unclear whether minister Anite will seek to continue with her war against Bemanya at UTL or she will just coil her tail feather and out the matter to rest.
