By Michael Atwakiire
Sheema Municipality councilors on the Marketing and Production Committee have vowed to sue their municipal speaker Steven Katwiromunda, over alleged misappropriation of Shs18M from Itendero Daily Matooke Market.
The angry councilors led by the Chairperson Production and Marketing Committee Hon Rebecca Burinda, said on Wednesday that Katwiromunda, who doubles as the Kabwohe Ward Councillor, has been illegally collecting brokerage levies from trucks exiting the market for over three months and allegedly pocketing all the money.
Hon Burinda said “As Sheema Municipal Council we agreed that since our municipality is new, all Councillors should spot where the municipality can get taxes from. As Production and Marketing Committee, we decided to levy taxes on every Matooke truck exiting the market although we didn’t set a specific price.
We took our submission to Council but by then they had already finished advertising tenders. So we agreed that we first wait to tax them until the municipality advertises for tenders. But I was shocked to see one of the market brokers known as Akim Ssemugenyi collecting that tax which wasn’t approved. When I asked him, he told me that it’s Speaker Katwiromunda who had told him to collect it and that for over three months he has been collecting the money and giving it to him.”
Burinda added that “Remember this man Ssemugenyi doesn’t and has never gone to municipal Council to be approved for the job. If Katwiromunda says that he doesn’t know him ; we ask ourselves how he (Segirinya) got to know about that tax? He has been collecting Shs20,000 from each truck and on average ten trucks pay that tax daily, which means in three months , he has already collected Shs18M and above. He must pay that money either in good or bad faith.”
Burinda also warned the Speaker to stop intimidating the Production and Marketing Committee saying; “I request Katwiromunda to stop intimidating us. We are neither cowards nor puppets. After landing in this mess we sat as a Committee and investigated. We discovered that the Division and Municipal town clerks weren’t aware of the tax collection.
The municipal secretary for finance and procurement officer weren’t aware about it. The mayor was shocked after hearing it. So we wondered how Katwiromunda did it. When I called him, he angrily replied me that ‘I’m rich enough , I’m paid Shs2M monthly at ICOBI , therefore I’m not in that category of yours.’ He even sent me messages abusing me. But as a Committee, we ready to make him vomit that money.”
Hon. Bernard Bwazeeze, a member of the same Committee, told us that what pissed them off was summoning Ssemugenyi and he refused, claiming they had summoned him informally, yet they wrote him a letter on Municipal Council headed paper.,
However, while giving his side about the allegations Katwiromunda, who spoke to this reporter on phone, denied the accusations, saying that “I’m not a broker or a tenderer. Therefore I don’t know anything about it. But I need you to withhold this story until December 19 , 2019, when we shall have a Council meeting; it’s when you will know the truth.”
Watch this space!
