BAMUGEMEREIRE ANGRY AS ISO RAIDS HER OFFICES: HOW M7’s CALL TO KAKA PREVENTED ESCALATION

By Joachim Twino

Late afternoon on Tuesday 10^th July, President Museveni who was at Kisozi supervising his cattle ranch got a sudden phone call from Lands State Minister Parcis Namuganza. It was a public holiday to enable Ugandans elect their LC1 chairpersons and Namuganza had accordingly travelled to the village in Namutumba. “Your excellence what I’m continuing to be minister for? I’m the Minister of State for Lands and this is under my docket. How can Brig Kaka undermine me to this extent? Sending ISO operatives, backed by some senior police officers, to break into the National Land Information Systems [NLIS] Center without my involvement? They have sent a lot of ISO operatives and our police that locally guards that place have all been disarmed and taken hostage. They say that place is a crime scene and there is some security sensitive information they want to extract from there. But your excellence this all very untrue. The truth is these guys want to commit crime in that place by gaining access and interfere with the data being stored there. Your Excellence this is a very sensitive project because as you know it’s being funded by our friends the World Bank and they have previously threatened to pull out if the political interference by my colleagues at the ministry doesn’t stop. We must let the technocrats do their work,” Namuganza reportedly exploded on the phone as Museveni attentively listened the other side of the line. Apparently Namuganza, who was in Namutumba overseeing election of NRM flag bearers, kept getting phone calls from the lands ministry undersecretary Geoffrey Seremba (who also acting PS because Dorcus Okalany is away) who was already under intensive pressure from the other State Minister Chris Baryomunsi (Housing) to surrender the keys to the NLIS complex inside with all the digitalized/computerized land-related information is firmly being kept. This information is all kept there capturing all records relating to land ownership in this country and the system was built by the Nigerian firm IGN-FI that was contracted by World Bank who are the funders of this digitalization. It’s meant to eliminate fraud in land transactions and conveyancing. According to PSST Keith Muhakanizi, who directly deals with WB on all funding matters, the WB had previously committed to funding 2^nd phase to intensify this digitalization by consolidating gains registered under 1^st phase. Muhakanizi is nervous that if the interference by the political leadership at Lands (including trying to interfere in related contractor procurement processes e.g. curiously over favoring Sivan Design DS Ltd ahead of IGN with which WB is very satisfied from 1^st phase) isn’t stopped, the furious WB bosses could halt funding.

BACK TO THE RAID;

Grace Kagoro, who is the Assistant Commissioner in charge of Land Management at the Ministry, doubles as Coordinator for NLIS and therefore directly in charge of the computerized strong rooms that the ISO guys wanted to access. He was the one first at the scene and he refused to surrender the keys. He argued if ISO operatives genuinely wanted to access the center, there are procedures to go through. “You can speak to me through my PS and not coming to me directly because I surely don’t know you and if anything wrong happens and that data gets deleted or altered in any way, I will be going straight to Luzira and I’m not ready to suffer innocently,” Kagoro at some point pleaded to Baryomunsi begging him to ring Ag PS Seremba directly.  Having failed to get the expected protection from senior Minister Betty Amongin, whose 9^th July memo was actually used by ISO operatives to justify their raid saying it was order from above, the two technocrats turned to Namuganza hoping that since she is the one directly more concerned with the NLIS than Chris Baryomunsi (whose housing docket has very little to do with the data center) urging her to help. Seremba had also called PSST Keith Muhakanizi who furiously rang Prime Minister Ruhakana (who unsuccessfully tried to diffuse the situation in a 7^th July meeting) and resignedly said to him in his kikiga accent: “Right Honorable Prime Minister I’m tired of this nonsense. Those guys at the lands ministry must style up otherwise we are going to lose that WB project.”

PARCIS RINGS M7;

Namuganza, who is already at loggerheads with Amongin for sidelining her in favor of Baryomunsi, tried to speak to both ISO DG Frank Kaka Bagyenda and IGP Okoth Ochora but her phone calls weren’t being picked. That is how she decided to ring the President (she fondly calls him Papa) directly and the man from Rwakitura was appalled at the recklessness with which the ISO DG was acting well knowing how delicate and complicated his government’s relationship with WB funders has previously been. Saying the Ugandan officials’ mediocrity was becoming too much, the WB has previously suspended (and later on resumed) funding to some key projects in the Roads and Education sector. On fully getting briefed by Namuganza, Museveni straight away rang Kaka asking him: “What’s this I’m hearing? Which security threat is being posed by that innocent center at Wandegeya? I don’t want this nonsense of I’m not aware about that raid sir.” Gratefully Kaka didn’t deny. He confirmed that indeed his men were there to recover some security sensitive information. He went as far as saying the political leaders at the lands ministry had told him this raid had been sanctioned by him (Museveni) through PPS Molly Kamukama and Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda. Museveni furiously told Kaka: “Nonsense. Shut up I don’t want to hear that nonsense again.” He insisted the men must immediately leave and the harassment of the WB staff manning the center must stop immediately. He then cut off Kaka and immediately rang Ochora and furiously asked him: “What are you Inspector General of Police for if you are saying you aren’t aware of the raid and forceful entry your senior officers have been attempting since morning?” Ochora politely responded: “Your Excellence I’m not aware of anything like that and neither have I sanctioned any.” Then Museveni said “Okay IGP. Can you immediately ring Hon Parcis Namuganza to give you more details? But please I don’t want to hear of that nonsense. Go and sort it out immediately.” That is how the siege ended and the ISO operatives, accompanied by some senior police officers, withdrew in total shame. They looked deflated having to leave before accomplishing their mission which was to access the data inside the NLIS center.

BAMUGEMEREIRE BITTER;

This NLIS location is enclosed in the same place where the Justice Bamugemereire-led land commission of inquiry is housed and the attack was interpreted as something meant to cow and intimidate the Commissioners, operating next door, as well. So on Museveni’s prompting, Namuganza advised the NLIS/WB staffers, led by Kagoro, to report the very traumatizing incidence to the Commission. A much concerned Bamugemereire offered full cooperation saying such crude acts of impunity wouldn’t be tolerated moreover in the precincts of the Commission. Seremba and Kagoro have so far recorded statements with the Commission’s CID section and the Bamugemereire plan is to summon whoever was involved including the political leaders at the lands ministry (e.g. Baryomunsi, Amongin etc) to each explain their role in the siege that has since been denounced by the President as criminal and unacceptable. Museveni has since insisted that raiding centers were computerized land records are kept has never been and should never be part of ISO Director Kaka’s work. Kaka had at some point insisted to the President that “Sir call the Ministers [Amongin & Baryomunsi] they have more information about the security threat and why we deployed.” Museveni, who is not used to being told such, reportedly told off Kaka “that’s nonsense.” From the information the complainants (Seremba & Kagoro) gave to the Bamugemereire Commission, sources close to the no nonsense Judge told this news website, the following are some of the officers involved in the raid that has since angered Museveni: Lt. Col David Kizza (Director Technical at ISO), James Jumba (Technical Officer ISO), Simon Peter Odong (Technical Officer ISO), Clarence Olongoman (CEDP Support Officer who was supposed to be secretary to the team) and a one Bandit who works with the Defense Ministry. Sources claimed that it was Rugunda in a 13^th June 2018 letter that directed Amongin to constitute this ISO team and unleash it on the NLIS center, a claim the OPM has since denied. There is plenty of correspondences including the 16^th April 2017 memo in which Amongin raises a red flag about the NLIS center. She says many things have gone wrong including refusal by the consultant to effect knowledge transfer by training the ministry staff on how to use the system. In the memo, addressed to colleagues at the ministry, Amongin calls on NITA-Uganda to audit the entire project. She is uncomfortable with the consultant IGN’s decision to continue hosting and controlling the system in Ukrain. She also accuses the project overall coordinator Richard Oput of being biased in favor of the consultant including shielding them against any scrutiny. In fact Oput recently was forced to take leave after the minister relentlessly demanded that he gets interdicted, a thing that PS Dorcus Okalany resisted as improper. The seasoned technocrat from Busigu-land was fearful that, if not properly handled, Oput could easily sue government win colossal sums of money through court. The proposal was to get Oput hand over the work to Olongoman Clarence whose recruitment too has continued to polarize top officials at the Ministry. Instead Oput insisted on handing over to Grace Kagoro whose interdiction Amongin decrees in her 3^rd July memo. She accuses Kagoro of indiscipline manifested in refusal to surrender 5 key documents relating to the NLIS project.

M7 CONCERNED;

Reliable State House sources have told this news website that, moved by persistent outcry from PSST Muhakanizi and Matia Kasaija who directly deal with WB, Museveni has finally accepted there is a big crisis at the Lands ministry mostly relating to the management of WB-funded projects. Consequently he has summoned the concerned Finance and Lands ministries officials to a late afternoon meeting to deepen his understanding of what has gone wrong and who is to blame for what. “He will be meeting them on Monday afternoon after the weekly cabinet meeting,” a dependable State House official told this news website. Museveni has well founded fears that the ever escalating WB anger might result into funding being withheld for other projects, resident in the lands ministry, such as Isaac Mutenyo’s USMID which seeks to transform Municipalities through building roads and street lighting infrastructure. In all this, the WB concern consistently remains that of political interference by Ministers and other political leaders not letting technocrats do their work. WB is even concerned that the political leaders at lands want to have more powers in contracting-related decisions on grounds that technocrats are sometimes too corrupt. For comments, call/text/whatsapp us on 0703164755.