By Simon Turibamwe
The PSST Keith Muhakanizi has become a whistle blower and raised a red flag highlighting grand corruption in his own Ministry of Finance. In an internal memo dated 11th February 2019, Muhakanizi reveals that there are problems and a lot of fraud in the way the list of 10 large companies to share the Shs150bn was drawn up. Muhakanizi accuses his deputy Patrick Ochailap and minister Matia Kasaija of trying to use his absence to hurriedly pay out the Shs150bn to the 10 companies without adequate verification. These are companies that are part of the original list of 33 firms that parliament agreed upon as qualifying for compensation because of the losses occasioned by the war in South Sudan. Acting against the background of claims that 6 of the 10 companies are sham and the remaining 4 are questionable because they belong to one person, Muhakanizi demands that the payments that had started in his absence as Ochailap acted should be halted until audit firm Ernest & Young carries out a verification Audit on the authenticity of the 10 firms that Kasaija and David Bahati want to share the first payment of 150bn. It’s also true that Muhakanizi’s adversaries at the Finance Ministry are fronting Francis Kamulegeya’s Price Water Coopers to be the one to audit the 10 companies as opposed to Muhakanizi-backed E&Y. In his memo (addressed to Kasaija, Bahati, Ochailap and Accountant General), Muhakanizi assures the minister that he will not allow himself to be stampeded into signing things that will cause him problems in future and this Shs150bn cash bonanza is one such classic example. What makes matters even worse is the fact that city tycoon Apollo Nyegamehe (aka Aponye), who the two ministers claim to have paid Shs40bn to, has since denied getting even a coin. Referring the matter back to Bahati, Aponye says he is these days very broke to the extent that he lives in the village most of the time. According to Nwoya County MP Simon Oyet, who has been outspoken on this matter, the two ministers must answer as to why they defied Parliament by shortening the list from 33 companies to just 10 which KACITA chairman Everest Kayondo says might even be proxies of big people in government. According to New Vision, the 10 companies likely to bring problems for Bahati and Kasaija include Rubya Investments Ltd, Kibungo Enterprises, Aponye Uganda Ltd, Afro Kai Ltd, Apo General Enterprises, Ropani International, KK Transporters, Swift Commodities Establishment, Sophie Omari and Sunrise Commodities. The state-owned media blames the two ministers for sidelining many other companies including Roko Construction, MFK Corporation Ltd and the mighty Dott services among others. For comments, call or text us on 0752510225.
