Ssemakula <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Global Fund staff agreed to hide evidence
WEEKLY OBSERVERâMy Lord I canât hand over my computer. Itâs my life. Itâs like giving you my underwear,â Project Management Unit (PMU) boss, Dr. Tiberius Muhebwa pleaded with the commission of inquiry a day before the public hearing closed on April 12.Such was the significance of the information contained in the computer that Muhebwa said he keeps it in his bedroom. The commission chaired by Principal Judge James Munange Ogoola had for the last six months been investigating how the Global Fund monies meant to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis were spent by a cross-section of recipients.President Museveni appointed the commission in September 2005. Other commissioners are: Senior Psychiatric Consultant at Mulago Hospital, Dr. Margaret Mungherera, Bank of Uganda Governor, Tumusiime Mutebile, Lydia Obonyo, an auditor, and Mbalire Kassanya, an accountant. Andrew Kasirye was the commissionâs secretary while Philip Karugaba was Lead Counsel.In August 2005, Geneva suspended further release of Shs 280 billion of Global Fund money to Uganda following a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers that indicated gross mismanagement.Ogoolaâs commission investigated 70 recipients cross-cutting through ministries, individuals, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, former staff of the Project Management Unit (PMU), staff of Ministry of Health, Office of the President and the Vice President.
One hundred and fifty witnesses appeared before the commission and 500 exhibits were tendered in.Evidence concealed
However, it was not until one day to the closure of the public hearing that the commission discovered that it could be missing out on a lot of details. Evidence from PMU computers was found to have been deleted and some documents shredded after being copied into Muhebwaâs computer during the week of suspension.The vehement refusal by Muhebwa to surrender his computer briefly to the commission to verify the author of a letter that appointed Minister Alex Kamugishaâs son, Julius Mugisha, to work with PMU, was curious.
When the commission took over PMU offices, it discovered two sacks of shredded paper. But Muhebwa said they were just extra copies of evidence that was already with the commission.âIt is not most welcoming information. It raises eyebrows. We did not know what was shredded,â said Ogoola. More last minute evidence also revealed that PMU staff conspired to keep as much evidence as possible from the commission during oral testimonies.
The commission learnt that the PMU senior staff met at YMCA, Wandegeya, soon after the commission was set up and planned a strategy on how they were going to respond to questions.Unfortunately for them, the plan aborted and the commission is in possession of a recorded audio tape of that meeting. The Financial Controller of PMU, Moses Opondo, according to the recorded tape, was to use his position to distort certain issues when he appeared before the commission. He was also to block an investigation by the Auditor General. In addition, Opondo was to insist that all transactions with DFCU Bank were only through telephone calls, so they wouldnât need to produce any documentation.In the same meeting, Dr. Peter Jjemba, the PMU Procurement Specialist, reportedly told Opondo not to say certain things in public, including the roles that each person played. But Ogoola refused any hearing in camera (private).From the recording also, Muhebwa threatened all the attendees not to mention names warning that he had so much information about each one of them and there would be serious consequences. In particular, minister Muhweziâs name was not to be mentioned in respect of money transfer.When the commission questioned him about the meeting, Muhebwa admitted the meeting did take place. âWe wanted to know how to give information to the commission,â Muhebwa reasoned. He however denied threatening his staff members.âI donât remember if I said it. If I said it, it must have been a joke,â he said. The commission also learnt that in May last year, Muhebwa, Muhwezi and Opondo met and among others discussed the exchange rate that raised a lot of questions during the hearing.It was done strategically according to the evidence before commission.Meeting falls apartApparently the meeting to agree on what to say (or not) before the commission fell apart. The age-old rule of everyone for himself and God for us all prevailed.With each giving evidence that pointed a finger at the other, Muhebwa and Opondo were not comfortable sitting near each other during the last days of the inquiry. The gesture leaves the public wondering how the whole team carried the bigger task while in office.âMy financial controller had a very basic problem. He was busy teaching. On one occasion he was asked to print a financial report, [instead] he printed notes for students,â Muhebwa told the commission.He said Opondo was teaching at Management Accountancy Training Centre and was not always available in office. Opondo denied the allegation and said he only taught until 2004. He in turn implicated Muhebwa in the irregular appointment of Kamugishaâs son, saying he was forced to do so.Ogoola talksThis is the second commission of inquiry Ogoola is chairing, after probing the closure of commercial banks. Not much was achieved and the public still queries if commissions are useful after all.
But the decision to take action on commissionsâ recommendations lies with the appointing authority - the President.Ogoola agrees that the public has not been excited by actions taken after commissions made recommendations. But he is optimistic that something positive could come out of this.âI donât see things remaining the same like in the past. I think appropriate actions will be taken. As one example, the commission has recouped money not accounted for and put in a suspense account because the commission does not have power to implement its recommendations,â Ogoola said in interview.The Shs 40m that was used to treat former minister Mathew Rukikaire has already been paid back by the Ministry of Finance. The National Chamber of Commerce and Industry returned Shs 100m, the Solicitor General Shs 200m and Ministry of Finance Shs 167m, among others. In all, more than Shs 700m has been paid, according to Ogoola.âFor those who may have committed some criminal activities, the Criminal Investigation Department will have to do a little investigation and prosecute them,â he said.After the suspension of the fund, the Chief of Operations of the Global Fund in Geneva, Bradford Herbert, last year told a press conference in Kampala that the Ministry of Finance that received funds on behalf of government must recover the stolen money.Chris Kassami, Secretary to the Treasury, in the same press conference said the government would recover the money by selling the property of those found guilty of misappropriating it.âWhoever will be found to have broken the law, the law will take its course. If there are people who have taken the money, it will be easier to recover it from their property,â he said.
That remains to be seen.Commission costHad the Global Fund money been used properly, it would have saved taxpayers about Shs 1.8 billion spent in the six months the commission sat.
According to the commissionâs secretary, Andrew Kasirye, they were spending about Shs 300m monthly to run their activities.These include, renting of the UMA hall at Lugogo, salaries for the commission panel, secretaries, car service, fuel for both Global Fund secretariat and commission members, hire of public address system, telephone bills and catering, among others.The commission was appointed to carry out investigations for two months but the time was extended to allow the search for more evidence.Muhebwaâs gratuityAt the closure of the public hearing, Muhebwa asked for his gratuity that was withheld for purposes of him appearing before the commission. He is also demanding for Shs 2m in phone bills that he claims he has accumulated during the course of the inquiry.[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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