By Spy Uganda
Kampala: Rural Electrification Agency (REA) was established as a semi-autonomous Agency by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Development through Statutory Instrument of 2001 no.75, to operationalise Government’s rural electrification function under a public-private partnership.
Contrary to the above, the entity is currently appearing in bad light after allegations of stinking corruption and misuse of public funds, being leveled against some of it’s senior staff which even attracted the attention of the president.
Because of this alleged gross misuse of public funds, some parliamentarians wanted this entity thoroughly investigated but this is now becoming impossible, if what we got from parliament is to to by.
For example, one of the MPs Gideon Onyango coined a motion which was supposed to be seconded by a fellow legislator Paul Akamba seeking for an investigation into the troubled REA.
The motion was due for tabling before parliament, though it suffered a still birth with in a shortest moment.
This situation was brought about after the would be seconder of the motion Hon. Akamba allegedly disowned the motion on the last minute alleging that his signature was forged.
According to Akamba’s letter to the speaker dated May, 26, 2020, he said his signature as the seconder of the motion was forged adding that the motion should be treated as a forgery.
“An investigation be carried out as to how and who have purported to have signed against my name, the said motion be struck off the order paper” Akamba’s letter partially read.
It has now emerged that Akamba’s actions could have been influenced by a Shs20m bribe that he allegedly received to claim that his signature was forged with a motive of killing the motion.
According to the motion mover Onyango, Hon. Akamba received the bribe from fellow MP Anita Among who is also the woman MP for Bukedea District.
In his letter chanced on by our ever alert Spy Uganda, Onyango wrote to the speaker Rebecca Kadaga asking her to use her office to dig into the matter in which this alleged bribery is going to water down the sensitive investigation into the thuggery that is happening in the Rural Electrification Agency.
“Madam speaker, it is not true that Hon. Akamba’s signature was forged. He signed it himself in presence of other MPs,” Onyango wrote back to the speaker, urging her to investigate about the matter further.
“I have established that Hon. Akamba received Shs20m from Hon. Anita Among who showed up in parliament yesterday to kill the motion by alleging that his signature was forged” he further said in a letter dated May 26 2020.
He goes on that; “the same Among was giving out money to several MPs to get to the house to heckle and obstruct the motion”Onyango is now telling Kadaga that not only these machinations are being done, the same group is now threatening his life with death.
”I am not surprised these same people have been threatening my life that I will die in an eastern route accident if I read the motion” he said.
Onyango to prove his allegations even implored the speaker to use her powers to cause a review of the video footage of parliament and see for herself the level of traffic by MPs to Anita’s office moments before the motion was to be read on the floor.
“I pray that your office exercises powers to ensure that parliament business is not obstructed by people who do not want to be investigated” Onyango said.
REA corruption stories have for long been in the media where it’s alleged the guys share dubious deals not in Uganda shillings but in United States Dollars. Infact, two journalists with Capital Times namely;Ronald Nahabwe and Hannington Mbabazi have paid the big price of sleeping in coolers courtesy of REA stories. Watch the space for more details.
