By Andrew Irumba
Investigators from the Inspectorate of Government on Friday stormed Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) offices and questioned interdicted executive director, Ms.Jolly Kamugira Kaguhangire on irregular recruitments and accusations of corruption.
The Inspector General of Government (IGG), in a statement issued on Friday to clarify the investigations into the various matters at UIA and Bank of Uganda, also explained the delayed investigations of Bank of Uganda Director Justine Bagyenda.
Ms Bagyenda, who faces allegations of illegally amassing wealth in whistleblowers’ petitions to the IGG, was also investigated by the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) on allegations of money laundering. The FIA report was sent to IGG last week.
“This is to inform you that the inspectorate is still conducting investigations on allegations of wealth accumulation of Justine Bagyenda, and when we complete these investigations, the report will be shared with the relevant authorities,” the IGG statement read in part.
When contacted, the IGG spokesperson, Ms Munira Ali added: “It’s not true that we are not investigating Bagyenda, it’s only that there are challenges of staffing and resources we have to deal with on a daily basis. In any case, verifying all these assets takes a bit of time.”
Mr Dickwitington Kimeze, a concerned citizen, through his lawyer, petitioned the IGG on August 6 2017, claiming that he had information about properties belonging to Ms Bagyenda.
The petitioner claimed that Ms Bagyenda owns various prime properties, including a condominium at Makerere Hill Road and Sunderland Avenue in Bugolobi and plots of land at Kimera Close and Balikudembe Road.
Although Ms Bagyenda’s leaked bank accounts, which showed that she was holding billions of shillings in fixed deposits was not included in the whistleblower’s petition, sources close to the meeting said that the IGG questioned her on the same.
Diamond Trust Bank and Barclays Bank have since issued public apologies over the leaking of Ms Bagyenda’s account details and threatened disciplinary action against their staffs.
On UIA investigations, Ms Munira explained: “The inspectorate is conducting investigations on recruitment process in UIA and these investigations are ongoing. The IGG in person has not had any meetings with the interdicted executive director of UIA. Investigators from the Inspectorate of Government went to UIA to collect documents and in the process met the executive director of UIA.”
On Tuesday, the UIA board sat to discuss 11 issues that culminated in the suspension of Ms Kaguhangire for three months pending conclusion of the investigations into alleged corruption, abuse of office and insubordination.
The board on Friday broke into her office and installed Mr Basil Ajer as acare taker. Kaguhangire last week wrote damming letter to the board in which she defied the directives asking her to leave office for three months. Kaguhangire accused the board of ‘sneaking’ in a debate to have her interdicted yet it was not on the agenda. She also pointed out that the board lacked quorum for the same.
