Museveni meets NSSF probe team Sunday Vision, Sunday 12 October 2008
By Cyprian Musoke PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni on Friday evening met NRM members of the NSSF probe committee and urged them to practise impartiality and fairness in their resolutions. The meeting, which started at 10:00pm at State House Entebbe and lasted about two hours, was called by the President to know what was happening to NSSF money. "The President was concerned to know what was happening to the workers' money. He had not received a comprehensive briefing and what the specific issues were," said Stephen Tashobya, the NRM whip on the committee. "We briefed him about the issues. He told us that the NSSF transaction was not a party matter. Instead, it was a transaction between NSSF and private companies and whoever was connected with it should be handled as private individuals. He also told us we should practise fairness and ensure that all parties get due justice." Tashobya said they later met with their colleagues from the opposition on the probe committee, led by Abdu Katuntu. "We briefed them about the meetings with Mbabazi and the President and they appreciated our position. We agreed that we should do this job in a professional manner since all our voters are workers. We should be guided by their interest and that of the country," Tashobya said. According to another member present at the meeting, the President told them that he has not known Mbabazi to be a corrupt man and since he is not a businessman, he could not have known all the procedures NSSF was supposed to follow. He pointed out that Mbabazi had sold his land to salvage a local bank, which would otherwise have fallen into Nigerian hands. "The President said the investigations were not about Mbabazi who sold his land, but about NSSF that is bound by certain guidelines. He wondered why they should tie the noose around Mbabazi as Secretary General of the NRM," the source said. NSSF is being probed over the purchase of land in Temangalo from businessman Amos Nzeyi and Arma Limited, a company linked to Mbabazi, at a total cost of sh11b. Museveni reportedly questioned the NEMA report, declaring a quarter of the land a wetland, and noted that NEMA had looked on as construction was taking place in wetlands in Kampala such as the Kyambogo stretch. The source further said the President considered the Temangalo land purchase a good deal, noting that he knew the land in question and he would not have sold it for less. On NSSF boss David Chandi Jamwa, who turned around accusing the finance minister of having pressurised him into the deal, Museveni allegedly said he knew who had "coached" him. Members of the committee are meeting this weekend at Lake Victoria Windsor Hotel in Entebbe to draw up the final report. Public hearings before the committee ended on October 3. The NRM members on the committee are expected to brief the party caucus on the deliberations of the retreat on Monday. The entire committee then has to report back to Parliament when it reconvenes on Tuesday. About the meeting with Mbabazi on Tuesday night, which was disrupted by MPs Henry Banyenzaki and Theodore Ssekikubo, Tashobya said Mbabazi was merely consulting them, just like they were holding consultations elsewhere. During the meeting, Mbabazi reportedly told members on the committee not to be influenced by the politics involved in the saga and to ensure that their opposition colleagues on the probe would not take advantage to damage the NRM. He also told them to remember that the Temangalo land deal was an investment, not a procurement, and asked them to question why NEMA did not declare the area a wetland until when it became a matter of investigation after he had sold it. Meanwhile, President Museveni has summoned the Political High Command of the NRM to discuss the NSSF issue. The Political High Command was an organ that existed before the advent of the multiparty system, consisting of the so-called 'historicals', people who contributed in various capacities to the guerrilla war that brought Museveni to power in 1986. According to sources, the invitation letter, dated October 1 and signed by the Principal Private Secretary, Amelia Kyambadde, says the President will chair the meeting on October 19 at State House Entebbe, starting at 11:00am. The letter was copied to the NRM Vice-Chairman, Moses Kigongo, and Mbabazi as the secretary general of NRM. Sources added that the meeting will also discuss "political infighting in the party".
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