EXPOSED: HOW BOD CHAIR KYOMUGISHA HAS USED M7’S NAME TO MESS UP UGANDA ROAD FUND

By Our Reporters

Shocking details have emerged showing how board Chairperson Merian Sebunya Kyomugisha has shut up everybody at Uganda Road Fund (URF) merely by repeatedly claiming to be very close to the President. A 9 page dossier, disgruntled staff recently sent to line Minister Matia Kasaijja and IGG Irene Mulyagonja shows that Kyomugisha has repeatedly forced URF ED Eng Micheal Odongo to facilitate her expensive trips abroad under the guise of travelling for private meetings with the President. The staff petition to Kasaijja indicates that the last time this happened was in the last week of November 2018 when she travelled to Japan and UAE (moreover on inflated air tickets) claiming she was to meet the H/E while there to discuss matters beneficial to URF. The trip was problematic not only because of the nonexistent meetings with the President but also because the larger than life Board chair travelled without the mandatory authorization of the Minister and Premier Ruhakana Rugunda. That whenever she returns from such trips, Kyomugisha never accounts to anybody even when this is taxpayer’ money. She returned from this trip on 27^th November. Staff accuse her of intimidating members of top management and board by claiming she is above all authorities that would ordinarily be expected to check her arbitrary use of power and discretion-basically the Minister Kasaijja and Parliament. Some times staff have had to be reminded that the URF board chair is even above the Act that creates URF itself.

URF PATRIOTS;

Claiming to have been in Kyankwanzi where they learnt patriotism, the URF employees inform Kasaijja they have a duty to leak this damaging information to him so that he intervenes to save this public institution that is charged with funding and supervising road maintenance works by UNRA, KCCA and district local governments. They describe Kyomugisha as a tyrant whose excesses have always been concealed in the hope that Kasaijja’s frequent counselling sessions (including the one of 9^th November) would bring out the best in her. In that meeting, held after Board members rioted rejecting her leadership as Board Chairperson, Kasaijja clearly advised Kyomugisha to learn consensus-building as opposed to altering board minutes and coercing members to sign onto things they don’t agree with.

INFERIORITY COMPLEX;

One of the many things over which staff and board members are rejecting Kyomugisha is the fact that she suffers inferiority complex including disclosing petty things during board meetings. That some of the very private things female staff confide in her as a fellow lady have ended up being disclosed as part of her communication from the chair. She one time came to the board fuming how some URF staff despise her because she is a mere diploma holder not fit to chair the board. And during meetings, she exhibits more inferiority complex by belligerently responding to board members who challenge her views during board plenary. She has resorted to accusing some of conniving to take her job as board chair simply because they present divergent views from hers. She is also accused of being abusive and quarrelsome during board meetings to the extent that recently partners from EU (which funds URF) stormed out of a meeting protesting her lack of basic etiquette when the meeting she was chairing degenerated into a shouting match. The EU guys wrote a report questioning absence of basic corporate governance values at URF which the European tax payer has been funding so generously. She sometimes rings URF staff at late hours-sometimes as awkward as 3am-questioning why they are fighting her. She often tells them how she has an elaborate spy network with informers even in the neighborhoods were staff reside. She often accuses board members, who disagree with her interference into management work, of being bribed by top URF managers. Some board members have previously criticized her practice of directly instructing URF staff skipping the ED Eng Odongo who is their direct supervisor. She has also previously interfered with quarterly release of road maintenance funds by coming up with curious disbursement criteria-clearly aimed at creating incompetence and inefficiencies which she can used to justify the expulsion of staff who can subsequently be replaced by people the Board Chair is comfortable doing business with.

URF/PPDA H’SE PROJECT;

Staff members, who held a crisis meeting on 27^th November to generate consensus for their dossier, say that Kyomugisha’s anger escalated when management rejected her proposal for the joint office project being undertaken by URF and PPDA to have a private funder/investor (under PPP). The same was later rejected by the Board and Finance Ministry angering her more. She expected management to convince Finance Ministry to accept the private investor she recommended and this never happened. The dossier shows that as board chair, Kyomugisha has continued dragging her feet costing the project time which is already leading to nugatory expenditure as the supervising consultant and contractor will demand prolongation costs. That she also isn’t comfortable seeing URF doing business with Twed owners where URF is renting currently. That she preferred some other rental provider which management refused dismissing the would-be contractor as unsuitable. That she hasn’t given up on frustrating the Twed deal because she recently took Board members to tour premises she considers more suitable. That she was advised this was illegal interference in the procurement process which is a management function but she ignored the advice and dismissed board members objecting as mere sabotuers just wanting her job. It seems she isn’t a sophisticated lady as staff show that, having realized Odongo’s contract is ending October next year, she has openly been bragging about her own people who will occupy positions in the post-Odongo era. Kasaijja is informed of reports that the board chair has her own candidates she wants to fill the positions and is uncomfortable with current management members who are interested in applying for the job when Odongo’s contract ends. That on 23^rdNovember during the board meeting, tempers flared exposing her leadership inadequacies. Members disowned an internal audit investigations report that was being based on to purge some members of staff basing on things the OAG had previously cleared management about. Members questioned why the chair and Rosemary Owino (her only ally who chairs the audit committee) insisted on alterations that were never minuted. Critics were shut up and chaos ensued with the meeting ending in total chaos. Owino was easily recruited by BoD chair because she thinks the URF management resisted her reappointment to the Board. She sees this current term as payback time. Staff also say the Chair has been too disrespectful to their ED Odongo whom she has several times expelled from board meetings only to call him back to minute (he is BoD Secretary) things deliberated upon in his absence. They refer to the meetings of 4^th & 9^th October. That she also conducts meetings without quorum (e.g. the 78^th BoD meeting) and board members are subsequently coerced to sign ratifying things decided in their well communicated absence. That this was protested in the meetings of 21^st and 23^rd November when members stormed out leaving her with an egg on the face. Odongo is accused of refusing to fill vacant positions but staff say these haven’t been filled because of the improper way incumbent managers are being purged by the Board chair using very improper procedure. That the chair recently had interest in the recruitment of head PDU and forced herself on the relevant committee of the board in order to influence the outcome. That whereas transparency is required of all interviewing panel members, Kyomugisha concealed her scores and refused to explain how she arrived at her final decision favoring or disfavoring some candidates. That she has often overturned the relevant board committee decisions on recruitment yet URF would have spent lots of money on such recruitment. She is also accused of one time directing management to create a non-existent position in order to accommodate someone she wanted employed. That during a recent board meeting when members rejected her ideas, Kyomugisha assured them she was going to become more tyrannical and they wouldn’t like it. As usual, she characteristically referred to her deep State House connections to deflate scrutiny from fellow board members. She is also accused of refusing to sign board minutes following meetings which end in her interests not being entertained. That the whole of this year, minutes for 7 board meetings are pending her signature-implying for the last 12 months, URF has operated on an unapproved budget. That whereas she is generally reluctant calling genuine board meetings, Kyomugisha is always quick convening special board consultative meetings to discuss and ratify knifing of staff she doesn’t feel comfortable having at the Fund. That whereas the Public Finance Management Act requires the BoD to consider internal audit reports, no such business has been conducted and the staff hold Kyomugisha and Owino culpable for that anomaly. This is a big dilemma because these audit reports are what the management bases on to compel noncompliant GoU entities to refund the monies that may have been misappropriated in the preceding FY. The M &E reports too require BoD ratification before management disseminates them to concerned stakeholders yet the BoD hasn’t considered any. For comments on this story, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755.