By Mulengera Reporters
Inside the Committee meeting room, many held their breath as COSASE Chairman Nkunyingi Muwadda casually read out the name of a staff who sent a whistle blower-like tip onto his phone during the UCAA-engagement session.
As part of their ongoing work, considering the findings contained in Auditor General’s report, MPs of COSASE were Tuesday morning interfacing with the top management of Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA). Because the event was streaming live on UBC and also on Mulengera YouTube channel, Committee Chairman Nkunyingi Muwadda received a text message from a CAA employee who must have been following the proceedings.
The message was to the effect that some of the officials COSASE was interfacing with had no moral authority to represent UCAA. The staffer sending the message desired to notify the COSASE Chairman that the gentleman who came in the capacity of acting Company Secretary (having been improvised following the controversial ousting of Ms Mary Helen Wenene) had just returned from a police station where he is facing criminal investigations.
Muwadda immediately read out the message loud and demanded for clarification. The man sending the message had implied that the official acting head legal was only out on a police bond, which deprived him of high moral ground to represent the organization and appear before the esteemed COSASE.
Muwadda demanded that Olive Lumonya, who lately has been serving as Ag DG, in the absence of Fred Bamwesigye, clarifies on how true this is. Lumonya declined preferring that the big man himself Bamwesigye leads the response since he was finally now available before COSASE.
It was established that the contents of the message were true but the acting head legal requested to be protected not to plunge into that since the matter is already before Court. MP Eriab Naturinda, a COSASE member who is also a lawyer, supported this on grounds that talking about the same would breach the subjudice rule.
But in a bid to demonstrate his neutrality, Muwadda, without being prompted by anyone, went on to explain he hadn’t solicited this feedback from the aggrieved staff. He said it just popped up in his phone and doesn’t even know how the sender got his number.
He named the sender as Andrew Were, supposedly a whistle blower, who he ironically didn’t feel obliged not to disclose. He went ahead to ask if this is someone Bamwesigye and Lumonya plus their HR lady (Mrs. Sabah Ahmed Kakooza) know.
They trio admitted they know the man and Bamwesigye added that he actually is among the 82 employees whose service at UCAA was acrimoniously terminated after it emerged they had accessed the Authority payroll and employment using sham and forged academic qualifications.
Muwadda said this is something the Committee could verify later on but before taking leave if this same issue, he passed around his phone showing the UCAA bosses the photo of the man who sent him the WhatsApp message about the vulnerability of the official currently serving as the acting head legal at UCAA.
The DG and Deputy DG plus the head HR all confirmed that this indeed was the man. Muwadda’s act left some of his own Committee members whispering and disputing what he did because, to them, protecting and concealing identity of such MDA staffers who volunteer information has to be part of the rules of prudent practice.
Some of the COSASE MPs are fearful that in future, many would-be whistle blowers, inside some of the agencies COSASE has to investigate, might feel unsafe and caution themselves not to volunteer such information because their anonymity can’t be guaranteed. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
