| KAMPALA
Vice President failed to declare annual income from two houses he rents out
Vice President Gilbert Bukenya made an inaccurate written clarification in 2004 of his 2002 declaration of wealth to the Inspector General of Government (IGG), omitting to declare income he earned from two houses he rents to the Office of the Vice President.
Reliable sources say Prof. Bukenya earns Shs6 million a month, or Shs72 million a year from the two houses, which neighbour each other in Ntinda, a Kampala suburb.
Intelligence sources with intimate knowledge of the VP�s IGG file told Daily Monitor that President Yoweri Museveni was given an intelligence report last year on the VP�s under-declaration of income after Prof Bukenya took a strong position within government in favour of clipping the powers of the IGG. At the time, then IGG Jotham Tumwesigye was seeking the arrest of the Solicitor General, Mr Lucian Tibaruha.
Tibaruha�s office was under probe by the IGG over massive out-of-court settlement decisions, which were under suspicion of possible c
orrupt
influence by plaintiffs who had taken the government to court.
Presidential aide Major Kakooza Mutale was reported at the time to have given armed protection to Tibaruha to protect him from arrest by the IGG. Various government ministers took the position that Tumwesigye, who was also issuing orders to halt the out-of-court settlements, had over-extended his powers from investigation to decision-making and execution and cabinet subsequently made an official proposal to the Constitutional Commission to clip the IGG powers.
Museveni had reportedly given a go-ahead for Tibaruha�s arrest, as per the IGG recommendation but came up against strong resistance from the said cabinet members, leading the President to order intelligence agencies to investigate the personal motives the ministers may have for the controversial and unprecedented position they took to protect Tibaruha from arrest.
Intelligence sources told Daily Monitor that Bukenya was among cabinet
members
who strongly opposed the arrest of Tibaruha.
It is in the course of carrying out the investigation into the ministers� motives in the Tibaruha affair that intelligence agencies learnt that the VP himself was under a separate investigation by the IGG for not declaring his rental income. This fact is said to have been reported to the President as a possible motive for Bukenya�s support for new legal restraints on the IGG�s powers.
High level sources who have first-hand knowledge of the VP�s file at the IGG�s office said the IGG began investigating Bukenya�s rental income from the two houses after leaders of the opposition Uganda Peoples Congress publicly queried the tenancy deal between Bukenya and the Office of the Vice President.
The current IGG, Justice Mwondha issued a lengthy statement on Wednesday, saying her office wrote to Bukenya (the letter was issued by Jotham Tumwesigye, who was still in office at the time) on February 27, 2004, seeking clarificati
on about
his November 2002 wealth declaration �after detecting some discrepancies.� She said Bukenya responded in writing on March 30, 2004 �making clarification as requested.� | 
