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UGANDA: IGG UNDER FIRE FOR SETTING BUKENYA FREE
As former Vice President Gilbert Bukenya was showering President Museveni with praises yesterday for “standing with him” until the Inspectorate of Government discontinued a case over his handling of the 2007 Commonwealth Summit car purchase deal, the Ombudsman was coming under heavy criticism over its actions.
The office of the IGG last Friday discontinued the case in which Prof. Bukenya was accused of abuse of office over the award of a Shs9.4 billion contract to supply executive vehicles for Chogm four years ago, saying it wanted to pave way for the conclusion of a civil suit lodged over the same matter.
In a statement signed by the Spokesperson of the IGG’s office, Ali Munira , the Ombudsman would “make a decision whether or not to continue with the prosecution at the Anti-Corruption Court after the conclusion of the civil suit.”
However, civil society activists, lawyers and members of the political opposition have rubbished the promise, arguing that the decision to withdraw the case against Prof. Bukenya were evidence of an institution that had caved in to political pressure from the Executive.
“Criminal cases take precedence over civil suits. Has the IGG got control over a civil case? Certainly not! Did he consult Spear Motors? He is simply taking President Museveni’s position? Museveni instituted this case out of pressure but he felt embarrassed that if he continues prosecuting Bukenya, he will have to continue prosecuting his political darlings,” said Busiro East MP Medard Lubega Ssegona, who also serves as Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs in the Shadow Cabinet.
The withdrawal of Prof. Bukenya’s case came about a month after President Museveni told a Cabinet meeting that he believed the former vice president was innocent of the accusations, a move interpreted in several circles as direct interference in the work of the Judiciary.
After details of President Museveni’s covert attempts to secure Prof. Bukenya’s release were made public by this newspaper, the Uganda Law Society sent out a statement condemning the Executive’s interference.
With the Judiciary insisting that it would stick to its constitutional duty, critics say the Executive has now infringed on the independence of the IGG in a case in which the IGG had initially said he had a water-tight case.
The Executive Director for the Anti-Corruption Coalition, Ms Cissy Kagaba, described the turn-around as “a sham” that erodes public confidence in the capacity of that office to fight “grand corruption” by political heavyweights in the country. “What is happening is that the government is using the same legal institutions meant to fight corruption to delay and defeat justice, which is very unfortunate. It is a gimmick and people in their right minds will not believe it,” she said. “At the end of the day, we are wondering, ‘isn’t all this coming after the President said Bukenya is not guilty? Does the IGG have the backbone to fight corruption?”
Commenting on the implications of the withdrawal, Mr Ssegona said it had helped the Ombudsman secure his own position with the President, who is the appointing authority: “Mr Baku is safe because he has answered to the dictates of those who appointed him.”
In a separate interview, Ms Kagaba, said the decision will leave Ugandans wondering “why we even have the IGG’s office in place.” “The public has lost the trust and confidence in the IGG’s office so he has to come out and show that he is still interested in the fight against corruption,” she said. “If he can’t tackle grand corruption, if he can’t go after the big political fish in the country, then he should step aside. If he can’t stand the heat, then I think he should move out.”
In IGG’s defence
The acting Inspector General of Government, Raphael Bakku, was not available to comment on the issues raised by his critics. However, Ms Ali denied that the decision to let Prof. Bukenya off the hook was evidence of pandering to the whims of the President and powerful officials in his government.
The acting Inspector General of Government, Raphael Bakku, was not available to comment on the issues raised by his critics. However, Ms Ali denied that the decision to let Prof. Bukenya off the hook was evidence of pandering to the whims of the President and powerful officials in his government.
“There is nothing politically motivated about that issue,” she said. “The IGG has a discretion to make such a decision and he realised it would not be good to run similar cases concurrently, so he exercised his powers to stop until the civil case is concluded,” she said.
Ms Ali said presenting the same witnesses for the two cases would be tantamount to “a collusion,” which she said they wanted to avoid because “the IGG realised that it would cause some disharmony.” However, Ms Kagaba wondered why the first case did not take precedence over the second.
Monday, November 7, 2011
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