By Mulengera Reporters
Since leaving PPDA for which he was founding ED, life hasn’t exactly been very easy for senior lawyer Edgar Agaba. After PPDA he did some work in private sector including stints in South Sudan. He got some good money and began private businesses in oil-rich Bunyoro sub region.
As the businesses thrived on, Agaba desired returning to the corporate world and have a salaried job. He applied for jobs including the one of NSSF MD which he missed narrowly but got himself consoled when he excelled at interviews and was permitted to take up employment as MD for Communications House-based Uganda Lotteries & Gaming Regulatory Board which licenses and regulates lotteries, casinos, gaming and betting businesses in Uganda.
That’s where he has been working for a while now but latest reports indicate problems have followed him there as well. CIID sources indicate Agaba’s good days there aren’t going to last because investigations have been commenced that could result into top executives, including Agaba himself, being interdicted and subsequently prosecuted.
At the center of CIID investigations is the fate of Shs950m that is claimed to have been misappropriated between 2017 and 2018. Trouble began with disgruntled insiders working with envious city lawyers to petition the State House anti-corruption unit headed by Afande Edith Nakalema. One line being inquired into relates to inflating payments to suppliers resulting into financial loss to government.
In another complaint, the top executives were accused by whistle blowers for requisitioning for and receiving money for company field activities that were never undertaken, occasioning financial loss.
Besides Agaba, the other Gaming Board officials being targeted in the CIID investigations include CFO John Patrick Kazoora, Collins Akampulira and Andrew Bwambale (the last two being compliance officers). Earlier this week, CIID detectives led the four to Kibuli CIID Headquarters before driving them back to their offices for several searches combing for evidence to build a proper case that could result into prosecution at the Kololo-based anti-corruption court.
Away from the Gaming Board, CIID working with Nakalema is also investigating key officials at the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) over Shs1bn they are alleged to have misappropriated. These include EOC Accounting Officer Lawrence Mujuni Mpitsi, EOC Accountant Harriet Banyire, Senior Planner James Mugisha, Auditor John Kisembo and HRM Dennis Nyangweso. In all these cases, it’s unlikely the state will be treating anyone leniently because as 2021 draws near, President Museveni must have evidence to lay before voters to illustrate his commitment to stamp out corruption about which many citizens are very unhappy. (For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755 or email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).
