By Our Reporters
A team of investigators, led by Commissioner of Police Beata Chelimo, have had a shock of their life ON realizing how stinking rich Mr. William Tumwine, a legal officer at UNRA, is. Tumwine, renowned for not being on very good terms with fellow bosses at UNRA, also serves as Head Policy and Board Affairs and sources say the man is well connected to powerful politicians and key power brokers in President Museveni’s government. CP Chelimo, who also heads the Investigations & Compliance Department at UNRA, was assigned by UNRA Executive Director Allen Catherine Kagina to investigate the source of what she called Tumwine’s “Illicit enrichment.” This was after the UNRA governing board conducted disciplinary proceedings and found Tumwine culpable for taking advantage of Kagina’s and Director Legal Services Mary Kutesa’s being on leave and “committed UNRA to very costly compensation” in favor of several Project Affected Persons (PAPs) who by law are entitled to compensation having lost land and other property to road projects undertaken by UNRA. The disciplinary committee found that all this was “contrary to Tumwine’s job description as per appointment letter” and that “he needed express instructions” to commit UNRA to such transactions but which instructions he didn’t have. In total, Tumwine had curiously committed UNRA to pay Shs3bn to a PAP by names of Godfrey Kibaherere and this was done somewhere in March 2016. However, Kagina’s timely intervention subsequently saw the whole transaction halted but this was after over Shs300m (10%) had been paid out relying of unauthorized MoUs involving Housing Finance Bank. Kagina was also furious that, working with the Compensation consultant AES, Tumwine had sidelined her and his immediate boss Mary Kutesa as well. Instead he worked with the Directorate of Roads & Bridge Development and manipulatively confused Director Internal Audit to sanction the payment.
He would sometimes keep Kutesa in the dark preferring to deal with Kagina directly, something the ED found irregular, dubious and suspicious. As all this was happening, Kagina got information the man was stinking rich and this prompted her to put together a team to look into these allegations. The internal UNRA team had the likes of Director HR Jennifer Kaggwa, Moses Kasakya and Chelimo. Their inquiry established there was a prima farcie case warranting disciplinary committee proceedings to enable Tumwine to give his side of the story. These committee proceedings resulted into Tumwine being suspended in August last year 2017 whereafter Kagina wrote to the IGG Irene Mulyagonja and DPP Mike Chibita asking them to provide investigators to strengthen Chelimo’s efforts to investigate Tumwine’s “illicit enrichment.” Her letter to the IGG is titled “suspected illicit enrichment” by Mr. William Tumwine. This was after Tumwine getting suspended to enable the Chelimo team probe into allegations against him without any interference. On the letter to the IGG, Kagina attached a list of properties and land titles and asked the Beata Chelimo team to verify whether this list of “illicit wealth” is consistent with what is contained in the assets declaration William Tumwine had previously made to the IGG as required by the Leadership Code. Kagina attached a list of plots of land with details of the acreage, the purchase price, the location and people he bought the land from and asked the IGG to help in verification. She insists the properties are too many and Tumwine is believed to have accumulated them under unclear circumstances.
Kagina also begs the IGG to assign experienced detectives to guide the Chelimo-led UNRA team on how manage and comprehensively investigate the case. “Commissioner of Police Beata Chelimo…is heading the investigations and will receive the information requested as well as any other guidance and support you may offer,” Kagina writes in a bid to sufficiently introduce Chelimo to the IGG Irene Mulyagonja.
Subsequently, the DPP Mike Chibita wrote to UNRA ED Allen Kagina (his ex-boss at URA) referring to their earlier phone conversation about Tumwine’s “illicit enrichment.” He wrote as follows: “In accordance with provisions of Section 31 of the Anti-Corruption Act 2009, this is to authorize the Director Legal Services, as a mandated Prosecutor to cause investigations into the allegations of illicit enrichment by Tumwine William, an employee of UNRA. You are directed to immediately and without any further delay to cause the said investigations and furnish a copy of the findings to me as soon as investigations are concluded.” However, in what remains very controversial circumstances, the Kagina-led UNRA management ate a humble pie and re-instated William Tumwine, a man they had expended months and lots of efforts and energy demonizing. He is back doing his duties as Head Policy and BOD Affairs. Procurement (PDU) Head Mathias Ofumbi, who was sanctioned in the same BOD disciplinary committee sitting, wasn’t as lucky.
He was never returned to the job and a recent recruitment process resulted into highly experienced and exposed John Omeke recruited to serve as Director Procurement. Omeke, the man from Teso, reported and began work a few days ago. See the list of William Tumwine’s alleged properties and land titles’ particulars as supplied to both the IGG and DPP by none other than Allen Kagina back then when she still badly wanted Tumwine out of the roads Authority. For comments, call/text/whatsapp on 0703164755!
