By Our Reporters
For some time now, the GoU procurement regulatory entity (PPDA) has existed without an ED as the recruitment process has dragged on for an eternity. And some months back the Finance Ministry which supervises the entity, put pressure to have recruitment expeditiously concluded. In the end consensus was built that Public Service Commission (to which some stakeholders had objected) leads the process with Keith Muhakanizi sitting on the Recruitment Board representing the Ministry’s interest. Adverts were published and interested candidates applied and got short listed. The original shortlist was, however, abandoned and the process done afresh resulting into the controversial inclusion of much favored Angela Kiryabwire Kanyime. Different sets of interviews were conducted and in the end she emerged 3rd. Reliable sources close to the process have told this news website that Benson Turamye, currently the Ag PPDA ED, emerged the best. The next step was for his name to be sent to the President for some security vetting after which the big man gives his no objection and the contract is signed to enable the finance minister appoint. “The relevant Public Service Board completed the process and sent their full report to the President but on arrival at State House Entebbe, the file somehow went missing and the H/E’s handlers have up to now been looking for it but it can’t be found,” says a source close to the process. Its suspected those preventing the President from accessing the file are determined to ensure inadequately suitable Kiryabwire becomes the next ED PPDA even when she was 3rd at the interviews. Bosses at Public Service are fearful the aggrieved candidates could easily petition IGG or even court to further derail the entire process should the 3rd candidate be given the job contrary to well established guidelines. Sources tell this news website that Kiryabwire’s promoters are seeing this as an opportunity to revenge against some people at PPDA who didn’t cooperate when a proxy construction company needed their approval to get the multi-billion contract for the reconstruction of Parliament. The job eventually went to best evaluated bidder Roko Construction which continues to do a good job. We are told some people around the H/E have vowed that no recruitment process will be permitted as long as it produces any other candidate who isn’t Angela Kiryabwire currently working as Director Legal Affairs at Capital Markets Authority (CMA) where she famously refused to ratify the operations of Development Channel business company whose shady Nigerian Directors where recently arrested by security agencies. They are now on criminal trial for fraud and money laundering allegations. As a lawyer, Kiryabwire who hails from Pallisa and is sister to Justice Kiryabwire studied at Dar es Salaam University and previously chaired UNRA governing board. Actually she is the one who fired the old UNRA management and recruited Allen Kagina as ED. She accused the Peter Sebanakita UNRA team of inefficiency but Kagina’s era hasn’t met output levels Kiryabwire said they would deliver.
WHY FINANCE DOESN’T WANT HER;
Besides the fact that she wasn’t the best at the interviews, the officials at finance are nervous about having her head PPDA for a number of reasons including her track record at UNRA and other places where she has worked. At UNRA (where she replaced Chris Kissami as BoD chair), Kiryabwire actively feuded with her political supervisors at the Works Ministry prompting John Byabagambi to take her on vigorously. In our possession are a number of letters Byabagambi wrote including the one of 26th November 2012 asking her to leave the UNRA board. The grounds were that her appointment hadn’t been approved by Cabinet making her ineligible. Secondly she was designated as a representative of the private sector on the BoD yet she worked at CMA which is part of the public (and not private) sector. Byabagambi demanded that she leaves office to permit deeper investigations into her actions and the multi-billion procurement transactions that occurred during her tenure. She was investigated until State House allowed her back after conclusion of investigations. Incidentally the finance ministry is represented on the UNRA BoD and game-changing technocrats like Keith Muhakanizi must be knowing her first hand. She was discourteous in her wars with Works Ministry and took no prisoners in the way she approached the challenge posed by equally belligerent Byabagambi. Even the UNRA management guys she was supervising didn’t like her either. She always conflicted with management directly prompting UNRA ED Eng Peter Sebanakita to resign in protest. Even fellow BoD members weren’t comfortable with her save for a few like Eng Kasingye. In the end she had to cease being UNRA BoD member but the record she left there is one of the things frightening guys at the Finance Ministry who directly supervise PPDA. There are also concerns that as Head Legal at CMA, she hasn’t had the opportunity to run a big entity like PPDA which oversees all the multi-billion procurement deals by close to 1,000 government entities. Sources say even the Solicitor General’s office has authored a legal opinion advising on the dangers of giving the PPDA job to someone who was number 3 ahead of the most suitable candidates. For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755.
