The NSSF flu invades the countryside

Augustine Ruzindana
I have just been in Ruhaama, Ntungamo, and I was surprised to find that the Temangalo-Mbabazi debacle is as topical there, as in Kampala, courtesy of the FM radio coverage. No one was asking about the details, they are well known. What was intriguing was a widespread belief that such a big thing could not happen without the nod of the boss of the main participants in the deal. Why has he not acted if he did not know the plan? But the most intriguing surprise was a reluctance to believe that Maj. Gen. Muhwezi could have been involved in a bank robbery. People generally believe that the accusations against him regarding the GAVI and the Global Fund scandals could be true. In the last election campaigns Muhwezi was a frequent visitor to Ruhaama donating large sums of money in support of a certain new parliamentary candidate. Nevertheless people link his prosecution to having fallen out with his boss, otherwise why are other high ranking people known to be doing the same things not being prosecuted? The bank robbery allegations are viewed in the same light.The Temangalo saga is helping many people to better understand the character of the regime. For example, the revelations and testimony of Charles Rwomushana about the rigging activities and torture of people in the Pallisa district elections and the coercive arm-twisting of the district chairman to ally with NRM summarise what takes place in the general elections countrywide. The clumsy and crude methods being used by sections of NRM to cover up for Mbabazi and lately Suruma and the counter moves by another section to settle scores unrelated to the irregular Temangalo land purchase/sale illustrate the huge institutional stress facing the NRM. Perhaps the biggest revelation is the exposure of how embedded networks facilitate these types of deals. A minister appoints colleagues on a board or executive positions and at an appropriate time they will be called upon to facilitate irregular deals as the NSSF one.Meanwhile some new interesting developments have taken place. The NRM Parliamentary Caucus has declared the Temangalo deal an NRM matter as MPs have been forbidden from discussing the matter in public, otherwise they will face disciplinary measures. Indeed disciplinary measures have already been taken against Rwomushana. Could it be that the connection of Muhwezi to an alleged bank robbery/fraud is also connected to the public vocal position he has taken against the part played by the NRM Secretary General in the Temangalo land sale? Matters are moving unusually fast as Muhwezi has already made a charge-and-caution statement at CID headquarters. With the GAVI and Global Fund matters also being vigorously pursued, there may be need to form a Jim Muhwezi Police Unit. The heavy responsibility is now on the shoulders of the parliamentary committee investigating the NSSF saga to produce a credible report on the matter. There may be need to discuss the conclusions with the affected persons so that no one should ever say that they were not heard on any matter appearing in the report.Meanwhile the most serious development is illustrated by a picture on the front page of the Daily Monitor, Wednesday, October 8. The police and local defence force guards are shown blocking a road leading to Nakasongola, thus physically blocking the Kabaka from continuing on his planned programmes in the district. Mengo sources are reported to have said that “Even Riot Police was equipped with teargas” waiting to deal with the Kabaka if he turned up. Is there need for another signal to Mengo that the gloves are off and that talks with the President are futile?

Comments:
richard gudoi said at 11 Oct 2008, 03:00
Augustine,You have some good and poor points.While you have mentioned the NSSF Flue in the villages,it is nolonger news that ur telling the world.Everybody is aware of it.I would like to take on you:If you are the one who was at the helm of IGG, what did you do to help Uganda expose fraudsters? What is your living testimony to Ugandans. You should tell us .I qoute Lincoln who said" I have not done anything to leave behind,something for someone to remember" was the reason he wanted to be a president of the US.According to me, you did not leave anything behind like a plan to help fight fraud,graft in Uganda.Now that you are in the opposition, you should have even been more alert and vocal.But because u are elusive to your own performance as former IGG, you can only talk while hiding behind the people of Tungamo.I would love to hear you make a representative sample of what most constituencies are saying to make an acceptable assertion to the world and government.If your performance was good as IGG, such scenarios like NSSF saga and many others would not arise. You did not ably advise Ugandans while in your office in the best way forward,yet are a commerce student.But on the other hand you have made made some points though come too late.Thank you!
Ronnie said at 10 Oct 2008, 09:43
BRIDGET, JUST COME UP WITH YOUR POINT I WOUNDER IF YOU ARE LEARNED, BUT YOU SHOULD BE ANTWAY IF YOU CANT SEE WHAT THE UGANDA WE LIVE IN NOW AM SORRY FOR SUCH PEOPLE
kabayekka said at 10 Oct 2008, 08:51
You see what I mean. The NSSF has invaded the countryside where the liberators victimised that place left,right and centre. You know that military coup-de-tais used to happen in the urban areas of Uganda. Grab the one radio and Kampala and you are in business to rule Uganda. Well everybody knows how it came about to go into the countryside. The voters there believing that the man had so much money to campaign and give them soap, grain seeds and lots of future hopes is a point for them to understand where the ranch man and his rich party gets its funds. However, most of them new before why the NRM was a poor man's party as most had to give them food and shelter in their fight to capture power. If the countryside this time refuses to learn from this corruption, they will never learn anything. This is a live revolution for all.
Jack1 said at 10 Oct 2008, 08:36
In the face of rapid loss of credibility has the opposition elements had an oportunity to realise that now is the time to be showing that you are a credible alternative to M7 and NRM?M7 is going to leave the country in total caos that it needs foresight by the oposition on what to do when M7 falls.Problem is that leaders in Uganda keep reminding us through thier ad hoc governance ways that they only think in terms of how long they hope to stay in govt or alive.Yet they should be thinking and planning more for the next generation.
Hiled said at 10 Oct 2008, 08:06
No one can dispute the extent of the flu.Just ask Museveni and his people who attended the 46th independence day military show.NSSF workers were booed by even peasants from so remote areas.The verdict is laready passed even 1000 night meetings are held.Time to cough will come.
Xerxes said at 10 Oct 2008, 07:03
It is difficult to believe that people like Ruzindana who were once buddies of M7 can come up and write honestly about their erst while comrades. I personally thought all the so called NRM ideologues aka historicals where all the same.
Charles Dalton Opwonya said at 10 Oct 2008, 04:54
Shame! Shame! Shame!Ruhakana Rugunda salvage what remains of your name and abandon the Mafia Sharks IMMEDIATELY!!!
okabo Benson said at 10 Oct 2008, 01:13
I think the observations made by Ruzindana are not just correct but also very accurate and expected of Ugandans at this point.We should never think that people out there are so stupind simply because thay are not in the center of power. An ordinary Ugandan would ask questions and generate answers as raised in the disscussions and findings of Ruzindana.For one thing why should one ordinary Ugandan walk and steal workers money,and on top harras and implicate his challengers and the president who claims to be a champion against corruption is silent about it.I hope the president at this point has his team on the ground who will provide him the right information that will help him send mbabazi to the gallows for his sins.If that is not done then what will ordinary Ugandans like us have to celebrate from a people who have for long called themselves liberators.We need liberation from plotitcal persecution and mass corruption as practiced by Amama. Secondly do we still need to struggle or fight to know that people were beaten in Pallisa, this is an open thing, and if any one challenges this then can they also challenge election violences championed by carders like Mutale in other parts of the country?Museveni we embrace you as an elected leader, please protect us from merciless and arrogant people like this one otherwise the same reasons that took you to the bush will one time be a reason for a group of people to abondone you and do the same.
WILLIAM said at 10 Oct 2008, 01:12
MR.RUZINDANA'S ARTICLE IS SPOT ON,I HAVE BEEN AROUND THE COUNTRY AND WHAT I HAVE SEEN AND HEARD ECHOES THE SAME.
bridget said at 10 Oct 2008, 00:13
Mr Ruzindana sorry to tell you that you are misusing your office (FDC party secretary for research and policy) your research lacks credibility you should on party activities than writing nosense which can soil the party. shame upon you
james mabugo said at 09 Oct 2008, 18:59
The NRM0 regime like any in Africa tend to think that because they are in power and have access to state resources they will never leave and therefore will never become answerable to anyone.Most historicals by virtue of what they have done to this country deserve to be put out by firing squad! Indegenous Ugandans have now come to believe that immigrants or naturalised citizens may not have full commitment to this country.The indicators are there for every body to see.

Probe MPs; you have shamed Parliament

Editorial
Scandal begets scandal. That’s the summary description of the Tuesday meeting between Security Minister Mbabazi and the NRM members on the parliamentary committee investigating him over the NSSF Temangalo land saga. Twelve of the 15 members on the committee met Mbabazi in the office of the NRM Chief Whip where he reportedly told them that when writing their report, they should ensure their Opposition counterparts on the probe do not take advantage to damage the NRM image. He also reportedly told them that they should hold that the Temangalo land deal was an investment, not a procurement. He also reportedly told them to question why the National Environment Management Authority did not declare his land a wetland until it became a matter of investigation after he had sold it.The sale of Temangalo land to NSSF is already scandalous enough on the strength of what has been exposed so far. But the MPs investigating the controversy to allow themselves to meet one of the principal suspects under the investigation, makes it a double scandal. The MPs have put themselves to shame. Kajara MP Steven Tashobya’s claim that the meeting has no implication because Mbabazi was consulting them like any other interested party was doing elsewhere, is devoid of substance. Even assuming Mbabazi was consulting, would it be right to consult his investigators on their likely findings? Absolutely No. In fact Mbabazi was not consulting them, he was briefing them on what to write in their report and how to write it.He asked them to question why Nema had not declared his land a wetland before he sold it; he told them to find that the sale was an investment, not a procurement. Isn’t this telling them what their findings and recommendations about him should be? Basically, he was writing the report for them. If it was mere consulting, and not influencing the findings of the investigation, why didn’t Mbabazi consult the whole committee? And if he was consulting them as party members, as Tashobya claims, why didn’t he meet the whole NRM Parliamentary Caucus? Are the 12 MPs on the committee the only NRM party members?This has further dented the image of the party the members are purportedly trying to salvage. By meeting at the NRM Chief Whip’s office with Mbabazi, it now appears the party is on Mbabazi’s side. But whichever way, the meeting has ruined the credibility of the committee, its investigations and the ultimate report.

Comments

Wilson Oceu said at 10 Oct 2008, 18:34
That is spot on.What do you have to expect from people who have lost their conscience and think with other parts of the body other than the brains?. I mean the stomachs.I don't know if horrible members of parliament also have the word intergrity in their vocabulary and if atall it exists, why don't they attempt to apply it?I guess the current house of psrlisment may get into record for incompetence, Jirani what do you say?
okwasipe said at 10 Oct 2008, 07:37
mr. Mbabazi should allow the probers to do their work, as he has always said it was afair deal. Let the mps come out fairly with their report than intimidating them in the name of consulting them. Let the mps also be objective like others who have Uganda at heart, never trust a man like Mbabazi, because when he is cleared as he is trying to bribe you with ideas so that he comes out clean, the arrogance will be at it's peak. enough damage has been caused to the economy of the country. It seems the gov't has failed. There is no need for NRM to seek for another mandate to lead again, lets try other parties also i believe they can make a change considering the mistakes made by NRM. if it were me i could have resigned long time. there is time for everything, if it has come to your end please go don't force. GOD RESCUE UGANDA FROM THIS FREEDOM FIGHTRES.
Turumye Amos said at 10 Oct 2008, 06:50
Sir, i read with interest Mr. Omar Kalige Nyago's article "The elite has failed Ugandans for 46 years of independence". Where as this could be partly true, what power has the elite to enable them change the country? Given that even professors are running away from their profession to join politics.
Max said at 10 Oct 2008, 04:10
Gada,Thanks very much. I couldn't have put it better myself.
ERIC said at 10 Oct 2008, 02:12
I think those who were asking who the mafia are or is,we are at per.How can an ordinary Minister/SG/MP have such guts to tell radio stations not to host fellow ministers' talkshows castigating his involvement in theft,tell a whole party not to debate his thuggery,meet and tell lawmakers what their findings are,and he still wields power.Let me warn this govt,your omega is nearer than ever before,better pack that which you have stolen and go rather than wait to be made to vomit even your lives.AMEN.
Ntegye Asiimwe said at 10 Oct 2008, 01:50
Daily Monitor,Our Parliament misplaced (lost) its sense of shame long time ago.They are immune to shame.
Gada said at 09 Oct 2008, 22:45
Jesus taught his disciples thus: By their fruit you will know them. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, neither can a bad tree bear good fruit.The only unbelievable part here is that to this day, after all you have seen and heard, you still expect anything more from this crew. Rest assured then that you are in for more unbelievable moments: All the while the north suffered, we looked away. While Congo was raped and pillaged (4 million dead!), we drank bell lager and slept. We saw bad fruit and still believed the tree was good. Evil begets evil. The chickens will come home to roost.
adebu said at 09 Oct 2008, 19:56
Unbelievable!He is using his office to manipulate and intimidate the committe members to find him innocent! It's so SAD. It's us the Ugandans that keep losing in this Kisseka land that was originally bought using our taxes, and again sold to us. This "dishonourable man" should be out of office and in jail, and efforts made to recover our savings.

NSSF; time for Amama to pay the price

NSSF; time for Amama to pay the price
Gawaya Tegulle
Since I began television talk show hosting seven years ago, I can identify three shows as my most difficult– all of them in my good old days on Issues at Hand, WBS Television, now hosted by my good friend Peter Kibazo.
The least problematic of the shows was with former Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Miria Matembe; difficult to control and with an inherent disregard for anything called authority, it was all I could do to keep her in check.The so-so one was with somebody better left nameless.
High up in the President’s company, this man who can’t spell the word humility has a thing for the bottle. That evening he came to the show completely boozed up and reeking of beer and spirits from every pore.
I got tipsy just being next to him for an hour. Halfway through the show I called for an unscheduled break because my guest wanted to use the bathroom. And after waiting for a good 10 minutes or so, I feared something had gone wrong and went to check on him. He had finished easing himself okay, but in his stupor, missed his way and headed for some other place in Gordon Wavamunno’s labyrinth of a building known as Spear House, thank you very much!
The most difficult of all the shows was in 2003– or thereabouts. We were discussing the developments in the war against Joseph Kony’s LRA, and my guest was then Minister of Defence Amama Mbabazi. Calm and calculated, Amama is not a man you rush into anything, and certainly not into talking. He took his time, selecting every word carefully and as a usually fast-paced talkshow host I found great difficulty– and frustration- getting him to hurry.
But in that one hour I got to know Amama as a man who takes great care in everything he says or does, something confirmed in subsequent interviews with him over the years. So while most of his colleagues have been freely involved in scandal, Amama has over the years come to be known as Mr Clean – to the chagrin of his colleagues who don’t appreciate white birds in a black flock. Not known to dip fingers into the cookie jar, steal a wife here or there, pick campus girls for a fling or cream off a juicy commission like some other vice politicians are known for, Amama has been exceptional.
And like Daniel in the Bible, his enemies were desperate to get an excuse to bring him down, which happily came in the form of the Temangalo saga. If it had been some other politician involved – somebody we are used to seeing in this or that scandal- nobody would have so much as raised a finger or wagged a tongue about the matter. But because it is Amama, suddenly it is a big deal.
That is where Amama has been rather naïve at playing careful and clean all the time in a country where the dubious are respected and applauded, and the righteous frowned upon as arrogant and guilty of parading a holier-than-thou attitude. The fun of it all is that the people pinning down Amama are the ones who frankly, should not even be pontificating on matters of integrity.
Social psyche in nation building is an important structural incentive against corruption especially at a time like this. When a man keeps himself clean, his reputation should stand him in good stead before the jury if he gets meshed up in controversy. In Uganda the social psyche is such that he gets punished for playing clean all along, meaning that it is better to be corrupt and survive.
When Temangalo is over, Amama should think again about staying clean – it’s not safe in a Uganda where crime does pay.

Comments:
6-pack said at 11 Oct 2008, 03:29
Hi Tegule,I remember watching u on TV and i liked the show then.. I can see you tried to be modest and polite coz u think Mbabazi might hunt u down! While thats a possibility we cannot stigmatize as unfounded, you continued to peddle the rumour Mbabazi started himself.Mbabazi is the furthest thing from clean and you of all people, with ur sources and connections should certainly be in the know!Next time, if u don't have the balls to call a spade by its name, don't write politics, go write about nature and wildlife!
richard gidds said at 11 Oct 2008, 03:13
Mr.Tegule,Somehowly you think like I have always thought.What is disturbing is the way things were being handled.FirstlyThe reterun of home of Dr.Nsuruma and later his appointment as minister for finance.The appointment of NSSF board of directors,The National Bank of commerce shareholders,The purchase of temangalo land by NSSF The Jamwa testimony!The Basoga have a sayingand a joke that"OMUNTU TI MUNTU..."Mr.Tegule, I know you make good and long analysis,why is that this time around you have made a short one,given the itemized issues above, I would request that you throw more light on them.God Bless you!
Kabunu-Kabatooro. said at 10 Oct 2008, 23:00
The Banyankole have saying that "Akarya sausage haza kaarya ebiisha". I think its time for Mbabazi to own up.
Odiya said at 10 Oct 2008, 18:05
Try to be a hard-nosed journalist and do your research before peddling cliche's. Mr Clean is an oxymoron when you consider what transpired in the Kinkinzi West last election contention with James Muzinguzi who, by all indications, was bamboozled into surrendering the by-election--courtesy of a not-so-nice-man.Odiyahttp://odiyatalks.9hz.com
kasozi said at 10 Oct 2008, 17:04
Tegulle, stop this Mr Clean stuff.I remember some time back when the then Uganda Airlines was looking for an aircraft to buy or lease and a tribesman of his was in charge of that exercise, the tribesman confided in some of us how Mr clean was pestering him so much because he wanted the deal through some people he was fronting for.Perhaps this normal in Ug, but I am of the view that this was certainly not his cupatea at all.Then again, thats your Uganda!

Time for Mbabazi, Suruma to come clean

EDITORIAL

Following Thursday’s sensational disclosure by Mr David Chandi Jamwa that “immense” and “terrible pressure” was applied on him to close the now-controversial Shs11 billion NSSF land purchase deal, it is time for the ministers at the centre of this saga to own up.

Until now, Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and Dr Ezra Suruma of the finance ministry have waffled. While maintaining that they did not peddle political influence to land this deal, which is unlawful, they have protested their innocence.

Under oath when he appeared before the investigating House committee on September 11, Mr Mbabazi also denied having had any contact with the Fund. In fact, he said he left his associate, city businessman Amos Nzeyi to handle the entire transaction.

Now it appears that this may not be an entirely accurate account of what actually transpired. We have not officially heard Dr Suruma and Mr Mbabazi’s reaction to Mr Jamwa’s assertions so it would be unfair to take a position either way. But this is not to take away anything from the fact that this is a serious development.

If it is true the ministers lied under oath it could have far-reaching implications for their political careers. Secondly, the core of their defence has been that they did not peddle any political influence in order to get the Fund to buy more than 400 acres of land from Mr Mbabazi and Mr Nzeyi. Mr Suruma as line minister sanctioned the transaction.

Thursday’s revelations would seem to greatly undermine that defence and it brings the credibility of the ministers into further question.

The cat appears half way out of the bag. It is at times like this when it serves everybody’s interest that the whole truth comes out. The more than 250,000 workers in private employment who contribute to NSSF have a right to know how their life savings are being invested, the taxpayers who are paying for the time and effort being consumed by this investigation demand value for money, and the virtuous principle of accountable leadership requires that those in public service be prepared to be transparent.

The defenders of the Temangalo land purchase have made the sensible argument that by planning to put up a low cost housing estate (5,000 units) in this place, NSSF was making a sound business decision. On the face of it, this seems to be true. Uganda is facing a severe shortage in decent housing with Kampala alone requiring more than 60,000 units to meet demand as at 2006 estimates of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics.

The boom in the housing construction market is eloquent testimony to this. So why does Mr Jamwa have to be placed under all sorts of pressure to agree to what looks like a splendid idea?

In coming clean, Mr Mbabazi and Dr Suruma will help clarify this matter. 

‘Museveni worried’

CHRIS OBORE

Kampala

The NSSF-Temangalo scandal now in its eighth week as headline news appears to have finally gotten the full attention of President Yoweri Museveni.

Sunday Monitor has learnt that the scandal who one consequence has been to spark of a parallel contest pitting NRM’s Secretary General John Patrick Amama Mbabazi and Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi who is also a member of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) has the President worried.

Top NRM figures like Local Government minister Kahinda Otafiire have also openly castigated Mr Mbabazi who they accused of allegedly posturing as ‘Mr Clean’.

Secondly, they also want Mr Mbabazi to swallow a bitter political pill because he allegedly has been back-stabbing colleagues before the President.

Now informed sources have tell Sunday Monitor, Mr Museveni has been quietly meeting confidants and top party cadres.

According to sources, Mr Museveni is worried that if the anti-Mbabazi group succeed, then his own political future wasn’t safe either.

This feeling, according to sources, was reportedly enhanced by the Mbabazi group who quietly impressed upon Mr Museveni that what was underway was much bigger and could end up at his (Museveni) door step.

Mr Museveni’s attention was drawn to the fact that all the senior politicians who are ranged against Mr Mbabazi had one time or the other expressed dissatisfaction with the President.

So the President decided to consult. One such consultation meeting took place on Friday from around lunch time to around 6p.m. between the President and his VP, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya at Parliament.

The VP reportedly gave cautious responses, most of the time restricting his answers to technicalities like ‘let us wait for the outcome of the probe committee’.

That answer will not have been as helpful for a President who it appears does not know how to react.

According to sources, Mr Museveni’s biggest concern is that “who is there in the party to become Secretary General if Mr Mbabazi is uprooted.”

Mr Museveni’s anxiety is reportedly fed by the fact that party chiefs like Brig. Matayo Kyaligonza, Lt. Gen. Moses Ali, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, Maj Gen. Muhwezi, Mike Mukula, Prof. Bukenya who would be the likely candidates, have in the past expressed desire for change of NRM leadership.

NSSF scandal: Jamwa spills more beans

CHRIS OBORE

Kampala

The National Social Security Fund never initiated the buying of Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and businessman Amos Nzeyi’s land in Temangalo as the two men have previously claimed, fresh details from Parliament show.

Instead, it was Mr Mbabazi and Mr Nzeyi who approached the NSSF and asked the Fund to buy the-more-than 400 cares of land, according to NSSF Managing Director David Chandi Jamwa.

Sunday Monitor has learnt that Mr Jamwa confessed to the parliamentary committee investigating possible influence peddling and price inflation in the deal that the sellers approached him saying “there is land we want to sell; you say you need land to build housing units so that you give us money”.

Three MPs who sit on Parliament’s Committee on State Enterprises, Commissions and Statutory Authorities separately revealed to Sunday Monitor what they said were details of Mr Jamwa’s testimony given in camera on Thursday.

According to them, Mr Jamwa said he had resisted the deal because it was a “bad one” but he gave in after immense pressure from his line minister, Dr Ezra Suruma, Mr Mbabazi and Mr Nzeyi, especially after they invoked President Museveni’s name.

This development is likely to intensify pressure on Dr Suruma who is facing accusations of proceeding with the Shs11 billion deal reportedly in disregard of public procurement laws.

Dr Suruma denies influencing things.

Under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act, any transaction involving funds in excess of Shs100 million must be subjected to competitive bidding.

Mr Jamwa reportedly told MPs that the deal would have been concluded as early as late last year had it not been for his dogged attempts to resist the pressure.

“Amos Nzeyi approached me in October last year but I tried to use delaying tactics that is why the deal was done in March this year,” an MP quotes Mr Jamwa as having said. “They insisted that all they needed was money to bail their bank out.”

After sensing the determination of Mr Mbabazi and his group, Mr Jamwa told MPs, he tried another delaying tactic by writing to the solicitor general for legal advice hoping that the SG would point out some illegalities.

Mr Jamwa said he was aware of the procurement loopholes but needed the solicitor general to back him up.

“The solicitor general okayed the deal,” he reportedly said. “I was puzzled and had nothing to do.”

Mr Jamwa allgedly added: “Whenever I would table the matter before the board, they were always ready to pass it. What would I do?“

When Dr Suruma appeared before MPs recently, he admitted that some board members including chairman Edward Gaamuwa and Ms Joyce Acigwa were his partners in a microfinance firm. He, however, denied that he could influence their actions because of this relationship.

According to Mr Jamwa’s testimony, the pressure intensified when Dr Suruma, together with Mr Nzeyi, called him for a meeting on January 9, 2008 at Munyonyo during the launch of Warid Telecom.

In the Munyonyo meeting, Dr Suruma reportedly lectured Mr Jamwa for hours before finally hammering home the point by saying they needed the money to rescue their bank – the National Bank of Commerce (NCB).

Dr Suruma, who is a shareholder in the bank, reportedly said they needed Shs15 billion but Mr Jamwa responded that this was much money.

It has been reported that Dr Suruma and Mr Mbabazi were under pressure to raise money to buy out their Kenyan-Indian partners in NCB.

But speaking to yesterday before he addressed a news conference, Dr Suruma wondered why Mr Jamwa who had earlier said he was not under any pressure “has changed his story”.

The haggling between Mr Jamwa and his bosses continued until March when the deal was sealed.

“They even wanted me to put [the] money in their account before signing the sale agreement but I refused,” one MP quoted Mr Jamwa to have said. “They then asked that I first deposit Shs6.5 billion and I still resisted.”

Apparently, Mr Nzeyi and Mr Mbabazi had unsettled financial obligations with Tropical Africa Bank and they reportedly asked Mr Jamwa to write to that bank informing them that the Fund was still negotiating with the Mbabazis over their land as a way of getting that bank to ease the pressure it was piling on them.

When MPs reportedly asked Mr Jamwa why he had not come out earlier and why he did not reject the pressure, he reportedly answered that he was under incessant threats.

He told MPs that he asked to appear before them alone because he needed to confide in them.

That is why, according to sources, the probe committee chairman Johnson Malinga threw journalists out of the committee room.

In his testimony, Mr Jamwa said he had decided to open up following constant pressure from Dr Suruma to resign.

“Since the matter went bad, the minister has been on my case to resign,” he allegedly told MPs. “But I am a professional person; I don’t want my name to be spoilt.”

MPs say Mr Jamwa was on the brink of tears and was jumpy whenever the door to the meeting room opened. “Close that door,” Mr Jamwa reportedly kept begging MPs.

He said his life was in danger because unknown people were reportedly threatening him through emissaries and anonymous phone calls.

The NSSF boss refused to leave Parliament unless the MPs provided him security. The MPs, through the Speaker, gave Mr Jamwa three police officers: two to be stationed at his home and one to be his escort.

He told MPs that Dr Suruma would have by now sacked him had it not been for the fact that the NSSF Act still gives powers to the Gender, Labour and Social Development minister and not the Finance minister to sack him or the board.

The NSSF was transferred from the Labour and Social Development ministry to Finance in 2004 following yet another real estate scandal (the Nsimbe Estates misadventure that caused a Shs8 billion loss) but the law was not changed to give powers to the latter department.

Yesterday, Dr Suruma said “it is unfair to say I get involved in NSSF details. A minister does not have that time”.

This was in response to our query stemming from information gleaned from other sources that Dr Suruma appeared to have a more than casual interest in NSSF. He has never assigned a desk officer to help him monitor the Fund’s operations.

Dr Suruma said he saw nothing wrong with this.

“The idea of desks I know but very many matters come to me,” he said. “Sometimes I consult and sometimes I don’t. We don’t have desks for ADB, URA and others, why ask about NSSF?”

Dr Suruma said his interest was to save NSSF.

The minister also denied reports that they badly needed NSSF money in order to rescue their bank, saying, “I don’t need money for rescuing the bank.”

NSSF scandal: Jamwa spills more beans

CHRIS OBORE

Kampala

The National Social Security Fund never initiated the buying of Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and businessman Amos Nzeyi’s land in Temangalo as the two men have previously claimed, fresh details from Parliament show.

Instead, it was Mr Mbabazi and Mr Nzeyi who approached the NSSF and asked the Fund to buy the-more-than 400 cares of land, according to NSSF Managing Director David Chandi Jamwa.

Sunday Monitor has learnt that Mr Jamwa confessed to the parliamentary committee investigating possible influence peddling and price inflation in the deal that the sellers approached him saying “there is land we want to sell; you say you need land to build housing units so that you give us money”.

Three MPs who sit on Parliament’s Committee on State Enterprises, Commissions and Statutory Authorities separately revealed to Sunday Monitor what they said were details of Mr Jamwa’s testimony given in camera on Thursday.

According to them, Mr Jamwa said he had resisted the deal because it was a “bad one” but he gave in after immense pressure from his line minister, Dr Ezra Suruma, Mr Mbabazi and Mr Nzeyi, especially after they invoked President Museveni’s name.

This development is likely to intensify pressure on Dr Suruma who is facing accusations of proceeding with the Shs11 billion deal reportedly in disregard of public procurement laws.

Dr Suruma denies influencing things.

Under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act, any transaction involving funds in excess of Shs100 million must be subjected to competitive bidding.

Mr Jamwa reportedly told MPs that the deal would have been concluded as early as late last year had it not been for his dogged attempts to resist the pressure.

“Amos Nzeyi approached me in October last year but I tried to use delaying tactics that is why the deal was done in March this year,” an MP quotes Mr Jamwa as having said. “They insisted that all they needed was money to bail their bank out.”

After sensing the determination of Mr Mbabazi and his group, Mr Jamwa told MPs, he tried another delaying tactic by writing to the solicitor general for legal advice hoping that the SG would point out some illegalities.

Mr Jamwa said he was aware of the procurement loopholes but needed the solicitor general to back him up.

“The solicitor general okayed the deal,” he reportedly said. “I was puzzled and had nothing to do.”

Mr Jamwa allgedly added: “Whenever I would table the matter before the board, they were always ready to pass it. What would I do?“

When Dr Suruma appeared before MPs recently, he admitted that some board members including chairman Edward Gaamuwa and Ms Joyce Acigwa were his partners in a microfinance firm. He, however, denied that he could influence their actions because of this relationship.

According to Mr Jamwa’s testimony, the pressure intensified when Dr Suruma, together with Mr Nzeyi, called him for a meeting on January 9, 2008 at Munyonyo during the launch of Warid Telecom.

In the Munyonyo meeting, Dr Suruma reportedly lectured Mr Jamwa for hours before finally hammering home the point by saying they needed the money to rescue their bank – the National Bank of Commerce (NCB).

Dr Suruma, who is a shareholder in the bank, reportedly said they needed Shs15 billion but Mr Jamwa responded that this was much money.

It has been reported that Dr Suruma and Mr Mbabazi were under pressure to raise money to buy out their Kenyan-Indian partners in NCB.

But speaking to yesterday before he addressed a news conference, Dr Suruma wondered why Mr Jamwa who had earlier said he was not under any pressure “has changed his story”.

The haggling between Mr Jamwa and his bosses continued until March when the deal was sealed.

“They even wanted me to put [the] money in their account before signing the sale agreement but I refused,” one MP quoted Mr Jamwa to have said. “They then asked that I first deposit Shs6.5 billion and I still resisted.”

Apparently, Mr Nzeyi and Mr Mbabazi had unsettled financial obligations with Tropical Africa Bank and they reportedly asked Mr Jamwa to write to that bank informing them that the Fund was still negotiating with the Mbabazis over their land as a way of getting that bank to ease the pressure it was piling on them.

When MPs reportedly asked Mr Jamwa why he had not come out earlier and why he did not reject the pressure, he reportedly answered that he was under incessant threats.

He told MPs that he asked to appear before them alone because he needed to confide in them.

That is why, according to sources, the probe committee chairman Johnson Malinga threw journalists out of the committee room.

In his testimony, Mr Jamwa said he had decided to open up following constant pressure from Dr Suruma to resign.

“Since the matter went bad, the minister has been on my case to resign,” he allegedly told MPs. “But I am a professional person; I don’t want my name to be spoilt.”

MPs say Mr Jamwa was on the brink of tears and was jumpy whenever the door to the meeting room opened. “Close that door,” Mr Jamwa reportedly kept begging MPs.

He said his life was in danger because unknown people were reportedly threatening him through emissaries and anonymous phone calls.

The NSSF boss refused to leave Parliament unless the MPs provided him security. The MPs, through the Speaker, gave Mr Jamwa three police officers: two to be stationed at his home and one to be his escort.

He told MPs that Dr Suruma would have by now sacked him had it not been for the fact that the NSSF Act still gives powers to the Gender, Labour and Social Development minister and not the Finance minister to sack him or the board.

The NSSF was transferred from the Labour and Social Development ministry to Finance in 2004 following yet another real estate scandal (the Nsimbe Estates misadventure that caused a Shs8 billion loss) but the law was not changed to give powers to the latter department.

Yesterday, Dr Suruma said “it is unfair to say I get involved in NSSF details. A minister does not have that time”.

This was in response to our query stemming from information gleaned from other sources that Dr Suruma appeared to have a more than casual interest in NSSF. He has never assigned a desk officer to help him monitor the Fund’s operations.

Dr Suruma said he saw nothing wrong with this.

“The idea of desks I know but very many matters come to me,” he said. “Sometimes I consult and sometimes I don’t. We don’t have desks for ADB, URA and others, why ask about NSSF?”

Dr Suruma said his interest was to save NSSF.

The minister also denied reports that they badly needed NSSF money in order to rescue their bank, saying, “I don’t need money for rescuing the bank.”

NRM MPs allege coercion in favour of Mbabazi

Grace Matsiko & Risdel Kasasira

Kampala

Members of Parliament from the ruling NRM party say they are being coerced by party officials to support Security Minister Amama Mbabazi from possible censure over the Temangalo land deal.  

Several MPs who spoke to Saturday Monitor said they had been summoned to the office of NRM Chief Whip Kabakumba Masiko to get an official “party position” on the NSSF debate but that they protested the move, alleging it was tantamount to intimidation.

“I was summoned to her office,” said one of the MPs on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “Inside there it is like a teacher talking to a student. We are adults not kids to be told what we have to do.”

Another MP said he was literally whisked off to Ms Masiko’s office where the chief whip reportedly demanded to know which camp he belonged to in the on-going parliamentary inquiry.

A bulk of the MPs appeared before Ms Masiko in her office on Parliament building in the last one week. 

“Parliament must have rules,” said another MP, who showed a reporter a text message asking him to “go to Hon. Kabakumba for a discussion on NSSF”. The MP did not however disclose the identity of the origin of the message for fear of disclosing the sender.

Said this MP: “We should not be bullied because we are members of a party, which must submit to the rules.” But Ms Masiko, who also is the Bujenje MP, denied summoning the MPs, saying the allegations were laughable.

“By the nature of my work I interact with these MPs on a daily basis – [even] before this [Mbabazi-NSSF] saga,” Ms Masiko said. “But I have not called anybody for that. The problem is people are anxious when I call them they think am going to ask them about this issue but my role goes beyond that; the other reason is I interact with them because I have to inform the Prime Minister (as is the standard practice).” 

According to the MPS Saturday Monitor spoke to, apart from the more outspoken ones, Ms Masiko has been summoning less known MPs or those whose position on the ongoing debate is not known for a so-called chat. Others allege that during these conversations, lawmakers are asked to show “solidarity on the floor” of Parliament in the event that the Mbabazi-NSSF issue comes up.  

Some the summoned MPs are members of Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, State Enterprises and Statutory Authorities, which is investigating the NSSF over its purchase of more than 400 acres of land at Temangalo in Wakiso District from Mr Mbabazi and his business partner Amos Nzeyi. At least Shs11b was paid for the land.

NRM publicist Mary Okurut, also the Bushenyi woman MP, said: “If an MP was called to Hon. Masiko’s office, it is absolutely okay because she is our chief whip. I don’t know why members should be worried. The one-on-one meeting is okay. It is accepted internationally but the party’s position [on the NSSF matter], let us wait for the parliamentary committee’s report.”

Last week, seven MPs petitioned President Yoweri Museveni over allegations that security operatives were working behind the scenes to harass or intimidate actors in the saga because of the positions they have taken in the land investigation and the on-going debate. 

The seven MPs accuse Mr Mbabazi, the man at the centre of the investigation, of ordering security and intelligence agencies under his control as security minister to harass them. 

They also want Mr Museveni, to take action against Ms Masiko, whom the petitioners accuse of taking sides and intimidating members who have spoken out on NSSF Temangalo land deal. 

The members who signed the statement include Amooti Otada (Kibanda), Henry Banyenzaki (Rubanda) Margaret Muhanga (Kabarole woman) Wilfred Niwagaba (Ndorwa East), Sanjay Tanna (Ind, Tororo), Theodore Ssekikubo ( Lwemiyaga). The seventh MP, Dr Chris Baryomunsi (Kinkizi East), whose name also appears on the statement did not sign but is said to be in support of the petition. 

The alleged intimidation has drawn the attention of Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi, who has directed Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda to provide security to the threatened legislators.

Cabinet backs Suruma against firing NSSF bosses

Grace Matsiko & Emmanuel Gyezaho

Kampala

The Cabinet has upheld Finance Minister Ezra Suruma’s decision not to heed a directive by Vice President Gilbert Bukenya to have the National Social Security Fund board suspended and its top two managers sent on forced leave.

 

The latest Cabinet position is a major departure from recommendations of a sub-committee in the Cabinet chaired by Prof. Bukenya which met over the matter on September 27 and ordered Dr Suruma to suspend the board chaired by Mr Edward Gaamuwa, NSSF Managing Director David Chandi Jamwa and his deputy, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera.

Dr Suruma told Saturday Monitor on Wednesday that he was justified in disregarding the Cabinet sub-committee’s recommendation.

“The sub-committee was set up by the Prime Minister to speak to the workers and the objective was to dissuade them from organising a strike,” said Dr Suruma. “I couldn’t take such a decision [to disband the board] because it would be contrary to the Cabinet’s position [of September 27] on the matter.”

Dr Suruma said the Cabinet had only recommended that Prof. Bukenya’s committee speaks to the workers’ representatives to avert the planned demonstrations and had also objected to the Finance Minister’s own desire to send the fund’s top managers on forced leave, in further justifying his decision to disregard the sub-committee’s recommendation.

And while he declined to divulge specifics of Wednesday’s sitting of the Cabinet, Saturday Monitor established on Thursday that the Cabinet backed his decision not to fire the NSSF bosses over how they handled the purchase of land from a company owned by the Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and businessman Amos Nzeyi.

The two men sold more than 400 acres of land to the NSSF at a cost of Shs11 billion in a deal that Parliament is currently investigating to establish, among others, whether Mr Mbabazi had peddled his influence to clinch the deal.

Ms Irene Kabole, the vice chairperson of NOTU, the workers’ umbrella body which has since postponed its planned demonstrations, told Saturday Monitor on Thursday that the trade union was “not comfortable” with Dr Suruma’s decision to disregard Prof. Bukenya committee recommendation, and warned: “If the worst comes to the worst, we will organise demonstrations and then strikes”.

She, however, said the body was still confident that Prof. Bukenya’s directive would be honoured. “In the meetings, we had with the vice president, we were assured that our demands would be met,” said Ms Kabole. “Prof. Bukenya chaired the Cabinet that day [Wednesday last week] and he was in charge; he was the President so I don’t think his directives will be defied.”  Prof. Bukenya also chaired this Wednesday’s meeting.

The worker’s body has led calls for the disbandment of the NSSF board and the sacking of its managers since news broke of the Temangalo land deal on August 13. But the position to disregard Prof. Bukenya’s directive will only show how divided the Cabinet has become in the wake of inquest into the deal.

Local Government Minister Kahinda Otafiire has publicly come out to criticise Mr Mbabazi for his involvement in the deal.

“A consensus was reached in Cabinet that this was not the time to cause suspension of NSSF officials when inquiries are ongoing,” said a senior minister who did not want to be named because he is bound by regulations not to disclose proceedings of Cabinet meetings.  

According to the minister, there is fear in Cabinet that by suspending the officials, the action will vindicate claims of alleged culpability of the officials involved in the transaction, and would “open the flood gate of calls for others like Mbabazi and Suruma to follow suit”.

The minister added that Cabinet agreed that “Prof. Bukenya acted in the heat of pressure from the workers and only wanted to show that the government was concerned and was ready to do all it can to prevent riots on the streets”. Last week, Prof. Bukenya wrote to Dr Suruma directing him to suspend the NSSF officials over the land purchase, currently under investigation by Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, State Enterprises and Statutory Authorities.

Defying the directive, Dr Suruma wrote to the vice president days later saying he could not disband the Fund’s board and send its managers on forced leave until the parliamentary probe is concluded.

Shocked by the Finance Minister’s open defiance, Prof. Bukenya wrote back to Dr Suruma on Saturday and said, “I will hold you personally answerable to the consequences that may arise out of your refusal to act as directed.”

Asked to comment on the implications of his defiance, Dr Suruma said, “I think that’s not for me to comment on.” However, a Cabinet source said Prime Minister Apolo Nsibambi “privately” spoke to Prof. Bukenya about the incident and “counselled him about the mishap”. Prof. Nsibambi declined to comment on Wednesday, only saying, “I have no comment.” 

Muhwezi suspect in bank robbery- Police

Rodney Muhumuza, Gerald Bareebe & Andrew Bagala

Kampala

Police are investigating whether Rujumbura MP Jim Muhwezi was among the conspirators in last week’s attempted robbery of Shs10 billion at the Garden City branch of Stanbic Bank, a source said yesterday.

The Police source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Gen. Muhwezi is among people “lined up to be interrogated”.

The comments raise the possibility that the general may be arrested and court- martialled.
Asked if Gen. Muhwezi would be treated as a witness, the source said: “We interview witnesses, but we interrogate suspects. He is a suspect.”

City businessman Justus Kashoma is alleged to have masterminded the robbery. Gen. Muhwezi expressed fears he would soon be arrested in a Sunday interview with Daily Monitor, after the robbery was discussed in Friday meeting of the National Security Council, chaired by Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda and attended by top security officials.

Gen. Muhwezi claims the link to the crime is part of a plan by Security Minister Amama Mbabazi to pin him, following their fallout in the aftermath of the controversy surrounding the NSSF land scandal. Gen. Muhwezi has called for the resignation or censure of Mr Mbabazi.

Dr Rugunda said yesterday that the investigation is wide-ranging. “There is no specific person being targeted. It’s only individuals that investigations reveal that will be brought to book,” he said.

“I hate to mention names here because the public will drag politics in this but I can also say [that] Muhwezi is not being targeted in this. It will be the findings of investigations to show which people should be questioned,” Dr Rugunda told Daily Monitor by telephone.

According to the source, the Police are holding, and looking out for, three categories of suspects; perpetrators, bank employees who may have acted as accessories, and those who allegedly provided security and cover for the perpetrators.
At least six suspects, all employees of the bank, were interrogated yesterday by CID at Kibuli.

Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba was tight-lipped about the investigations, only saying it was a matter for the CID to comment on.

But CID spokesman Fred Enanga said only Police chief Kale Kayihura has the authority to comment on the progress of the investigation.

The involvement of Gen. Muhwezi, according to CID sources, relates to the direct participation of one of his guards Musa Satya, who is attached to the Internal Security Organisation. As a former head of the spy agency, Maj. Gen. Muhwezi, who denies any wrongdoing, is entitled to guards from Iso.
Mr Satya was arrested together with Mr Kashoma, a real estate dealer and owner of the Bukoto-based Kashoma Group of Companies.

Others arrested include Capt. Muzamiru Wakulira, Mr Allan Kamugisha, Mr Paul Mukwanyi and Mr Adam Luswata, while Mr Kashoma’s two Prados UAJ 444P and UAH 500L were confiscated by the Police as exhibits.

The Police said the suspects, who were still being held at various police stations in Kampala last night, targeted $3.8m (Sh6.2b), almost £1m (Sh3b) and Sh985m in the foiled robbery.
In an interview on Sunday, Gen Muhwezi pleaded his innocence, and said there was a sinister attempt to have him court-martialled.

Gen. Muhwezi also said he could not be responsible for Mr Satya’s activities, because the guard gets orders from Iso, and denied knowledge of Mr Allan Kamugisha, one of the suspects. “I have never met him,” Gen. Muhwezi said of Mr Kamugisha last evening.

Daily Monitor reported yesterday that Mr Kamugisha was said to be Gen. Muhwezi’s political aide. Gen. Muhwezi admitted to having a conversation with Mr Kashoma in the moments leading up to the failed robbery, although he said he knew the businessman as a sociable person who wanted to buy his land in Nyabushozi.

According to our source, the Police suspect that the plan to “provide security” to the robbers was reached during a September 25 meeting at a Kampala hotel.

The failed robbery happened the next day, September 25. Gen Muhwezi, who was at CID yesterday over the perjury allegations from the 2006 Global Fund inquiry, claimed he was now being framed by his political enemies.

“I know this is Mbabazi playing his dirty politics, because even his political ally, [Buyaga MP Barnabas] Tinkasiimire, said that Mbabazi was planning to turn things bloody,” Gen. Muhwezi said yesterday.

“I didn’t deploy him [Satya]. Even after he was arrested, I contacted the Iso director and informed him. But, later, I saw media reports linking me to the failed robbery.”

At least 10 suspects are in police custody over the incident, which follows a troubling pattern in which city banks have been targeted by armed robbers.

Shs320 million was most recently robbed from Bank of Baroda. In the Stanbic Bank case, the robbers would have made off with at least Shs10 billion in what the Police said was a sophisticated scheme that involved tampering with the bank’s network system.

The Shs10 billion had been deposited in different instalments on several Stanbic Bank accounts run by Mr Kashoma. 

Parliament summons Lands PS over NSSF

Sheila Naturinda & Mercy Nalugo

Parliament

The parliamentary committee investigating the National Social Security Fund controversial Temangalo land transaction has summoned the Permanent Secretary in the Lands ministry to explain why it has taken the ministry six months to transfer NSSF’s three land titles.

The committee chairman, Mr Johnson Malinga, said PS Gabindadde David Musoke would be required to appear today to explain the delay of the title transfers, two of which are still in the names of Mr Amos Nzeyi, one of the sellers alongside Security Minister Amama Mbabazi.

“The Lands’ Ministry selectively failed to transfer three titles because according to the NSSF bosses, they wanted investigations to first end but then why did they transfer some?” Mr Malinga wondered.

“It looks like there is a deal between Mr Nzeyi and the Lands Ministry that we want the PS to explain to us tomorrow,” Mr Malinga said.

In his September 18 submission, the Geo-maps surveyor, Mr John Musungu, said the untransferred plots were Plots 12 with 165.28 acres with a school, a health centre, a police post and Mr Nzeyi’s house and also Plot 20 has 84.6 acres with a road reserve.

This means the land which Mr Nzeyi sold was encumbered and some MPs said it could be the reason why the ministry had taken long to transfer the tittles.

The plan to summon PS Musoke was reached after the committee received submissions from the bonafide land occupants also claiming that Mr Nzeyi still lived on the land.

More than 20 occupants of the land appeared and pleaded with the committee to help them escape eviction from their new landlord because they were not told of the sale.

“We don’t want to be sent away,” pleaded their team leader Mr Boniface Nyombi, who claimed to have lived on Mr Nzeyi’s land for more than 40 years.

However the committee vice chairman, Mr Abdu Katuntu, assured them that no one was going to evict them as their fears were.

Fire NSSF chiefs - IGG

Yesterday, the Inspector General of government releases a report on the National Social Security Fund, after a series of ‘bad’ transactions the Fund underwent with the recent one involving security minister Amama Mbabazi and his business partner Amos Nzeyi. The following are the recommendations.

* Appointment of NSSF Managers should be through a competitive process,   Workers representatives on the board should be widened to reflect their 100% stake in NSSF.

* The powers of the minister (under which NSSF falls) should be * Limited to regulatory and policy issues.

* A stakeholder representative board of directors is recommended

* Benefits paid to members should be diversified. The board should determine the benefits to be paid in view of prevailing social and economic circumstances.

* NSSF should maintain the age of 55 years for payment of benefits as long as NSSF is flexible for members to access their savings through loans, unemployment benefits and other kind of benefits.

* NSSF should come up with sound investment policies that should encompass optimal diversification of investment portfolio, employment of competent fund managers, transparency & investments free of corruption and conflict of interest.

* NSSF should put in place a sound policy in regard to member’s account statements that address members concerns of getting their balances whenever desired, being informed of their balances regularly and maintenance of accurate account statements.
 
* NSSF should improve the returns to members and minimise delays in settlement of claims.
 
* NSSF should adopt a member-oriented approach, if it is to be relevant. This means that NSSF should design a social security scheme responsive to the members needs and allow for flexibility to members needs. Some of the members needs identified by the study include,
-    Support on loss of employment, medical care,
-  Withdrawal of part of the savings after a given period of time or savings up to a given amount,
-    Loans to members for development purposes,
-  Regular and accurate accounts statement.
 
* Reduce NSSF operational expenses in order to improve on the members’ returns and benefits. Our view is that the operational expenses should not exceed 10% of revenue. Bank of Uganda should determine the limit
* The focus of NSSf coverage should be on improving NSSF operations before extending mandatory registration to the informal sector.

Who is Justus Kashoma?

Grace Matsiko & Robert Mukombozi

Kampala

Mr Justus Kashoma, the alleged mastermind of the attempted fraud at Stanbic Bank last week, has cultivated an image of flamboyance and generosity. Friends talk about his lavish lifestyle and taste for designer suits, perfumes and the good life spent in casinos and discotheques.

And yet, until his arrest last Thursday at the Garden City Mall in Kampala, little was known about the man, his life or his almost sudden appearance on Kampala’s A-list about two years ago.

Relatives say Kashoma is in his early 30s but the businessman boasts of political connections in the government and Ankole kingdom, where he has earned himself a title of ‘Prince Justus’. His lineage is from the Buhweju chiefdom.

He is the owner of Kashoma Group of companies, a Kamwokya-based firm comprising five companies that claims to have branches in UK, US and Sweden. In these firms, he handles any business that comes his way, a former business associate who declined to be disclosed for fear of hurting their relationship, said.

According to the company website, Kashoma is a real estate dealer and money lender. He hires and sells security equipment. The same group also has a section dealing in Information Communication and Technology (ICT) services, VIP guard services, armed escort of valuables, research, foods and beverages and crime prevention among others.

Kashoma Group says on its website that it also provides vetting services to people who intend to recruit “honest and required” staff. The Company further says its research department keeps a data bank on problems associated with insecurity, proliferation of firearms and its impact.

Few details, however, are available about the extent of his business empire, or his worth. He said earlier this week that he has withdrawn higher sums of money from his accounts than the Shs10 billion that is now under investigation, but Stanbic Bank officials have declined to discuss their customer’s financial history or details.

The company website, where he is described as its Chief Executive Officer, is like a family platform stuffed with photographs of his wedding to Ms Susan Kasingye, a city lawyer. The lavish reception that was hosted at Serena Hotel in Kampala was attended by big shots in government and security institutions.

Sources who attended the wedding say the British Conservative Party, for whom he worked as an activist during his time in UK, was represented by three party members. This, like many stories around Mr Kashoma, could not be independently verified.

Mr Kashoma, who was born to a humble family, grew up in Nakasero, an up market suburb in Kampala under the guardianship of Lt. Col. Akanga Byaruhanga, who took him on after the death of his father, one Mzee Kabundamu, in the early 1990s. Col. Byaruhanga is a former Presidential Guard Brigade (PGB) commander.

Mr Kashoma studied at Shimoni Demonstration School for his Primary education, where he was elected a head boy. He later joined Budo Junior School. Former classmates say that even at the tender age, he had special interest in business.

“While some of us thought about pancakes and sweets, Kashoma put in a bid to supply ties and uniforms, which shocked the school administration,” said the former classmate said, who could not tell whether the budding businessman won the contract.

Mr Kashoma went to Kings’ College Buddo for his O’ and A level before he was sponsored by State House to go to University in the UK to study business.

Mr Kashoma hails from Kazo, Kiruhura District but bought a house in Isingiro where his mother, Ms Perusi Kabundama, currently lives.

While in UK, Mr Kashoma became an activist of the British Conservative Party, sources said. It is because of his activism, that he approached former British Secretary of Defense Mr. Michael Portillo for employment in his office, where he reportedly worked for a long time. Ugandans living in London say he lived a luxurious life, far removed from the penny-wise ways of most students in the British capital.

His links to former health minister Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi, who police have expressed interest in interviewing over the case, are unclear; the politician says Mr Kashoma, whom he knows socially, wanted to buy land from him in Nyabushozi.

Now living off the state as a suspected robbery mastermind, Mr Kashoma told Daily Monitor while at the Jinja Road police cells that he was being framed by individuals he has been wrestling for business opportunities.

With his day in court, Mr Kashoma will be able to defend himself against the allegations but for many in the public, it will also be a chance to learn more about what would have been the largest bank heist in Uganda’s recent history, according to police, and a tycoon who apparently came in from the cold to become one of the hottest items on Kampala’s social scene. 

Bank fraud linked to terrorism- Kayihura

Rodney Muhumuza, Gerald Bareebe & Risdel Kasasira

Kampala

A businessman being held on suspicion of alleged fraud and robbery said yesterday that he was the victim of a scheme to defraud him of his money, even as Police chief Kale Kayihura announced that investigations were being widened to include terrorism.

In his first public comments on the matter, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura yesterday told Daily Monitor that the possession of a sub-machine gun by one of the suspects in detention had caused the net to be thrown wider.

“We are looking at the possibility of terrorism because of the armed elements,” Maj. Gen. Kayihura, the only officer authorised to comment on the progress of the investigation, said. “The way the robbery was executed, it was unusual.” Asked if the case was being given top priority, Gen. Kayihura said: “Absolutely. It is a con game, but it is very dangerous… I don’t want to speculate about the motive.”
 
Justus Kashoma, a city businessman who was arrested last Thursday after he attempted to withdraw at least Shs10 billion that had been wired into his account at Stanbic Bank’s Garden City branch, claimed yesterday that the bank was trying to defraud him.

Stanbic Bank publicist Daniel Nsibambi declined to comment in detail on Mr Kashoma’s allegations, saying it would jeopardise investigations. He said: “We suspect fraud, but let the Police finish [their] investigation. If it’s his money he will get it.”

Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, who chaired an impromptu security meeting last Friday to discuss the incident, said yesterday the case was being treated as special. “The National Security Council will find out whether there was terrorism or not after investigations,” he told Daily Monitor by telephone.

“We want to take this investigation [as] special because there are special people involved.” Dr Rugunda chairs the National Security Council in his capacity as internal affairs minister.
The link to terrorism, if proven, is likely to lead to the suspects, including the civilians amongst them, being court-martialled for possession of military hardware, or being tried in civilian courts under the Anti Terrorism Act which carries very stiff punishments.

The progress of the investigation remained unclear yesterday, but Gen. Kayihura said the Internal Security Organisation was helping the Criminal Investigations Directorate in its inquiries.

A top security source, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said the attempted heist was “highly organised – a mafia type of robbery. Some of the suspects are really sophisticated”. The investigators should probe into “the extent of involvement” of all the suspects, the source said.

At least 10 suspects, including Kashoma, are in police custody over the incident which was uncovered when employees noticed that the bank’s computer system had been tampered with. Police have already interrogated at least six Stanbic Bank employees over the matter.

Daily Monitor reported yesterday that the Police had identified three categories of suspects: the alleged perpetrators, bank employees who might have been involved, and those who provided security for the perpetrators.

The alleged involvement of one Musa Satya, an Iso operative deployed to guard former Iso boss Jim Muhwezi, has led the Police to consider interrogating the former minister as a suspect, according to a reliable source in the Police.

Gen. Muhwezi, who is the MP for Rujumbura, has denied involvement in the scam. Although the Police have not officially and publicly named the MP as a suspect, Gen. Muhwezi has said plans to frame him and link him to the incident are afoot by security operatives loyal to Security Minister Amama Mbabazi, whom he has criticised heavily for his role in the Temangalo land saga.

It emerged yesterday that the Internal Security Organisation had recalled all the guards assigned to the Rukungiri and Kampala homes of Gen. Muhwezi. “They changed [the guards],” Gen Muhwezi said yesterday. “The ones who were here were transferred and new ones brought.” According to intelligence sources, some of the withdrawn Iso guards, including David Muhumuza, who occasionally acted as Gen. Muhwezi’s driver, have been arrested.

As a former head of Iso, Gen. Muhwezi is entitled to guards from the spy agency.  Kinkizi East MP Chris Baryomunsi yesterday told Daily Monitor that his Rujumbura counterpart was being framed.  

“I know very well that Muhwezi is being framed because he is criticising Mbabazi [over] the NSSF land deal,” Dr Baryomunsi claimed. “If it was electronic fraud, investigations should focus on the [holder] of the account and the bank.”
Dr Rugunda denies that Muhwezi is being targeted but has said that the Police retained the right to question anyone suspected to have associations with the attempted heist or alleged perpetrators.

It remains unclear when Gen. Muhwezi is likely to be interrogated over the matter. Gen. Kayihura yesterday declined to comment about this specific issue, saying he did not want to be drawn into commenting about individuals.

Mr Kashoma is alleged to have met with Gen. Muhwezi on September 24, the eve of the attempted heist, at a Kampala hotel. Gen. Muhwezi has admitted to speaking to Mr Kashoma in the moments leading up to the bank incident, but says the businessman wanted to buy his land in Nyabushozi.

Besigye: Mbabazi targeted unfairly

Besigye: Mbabazi targeted unfairly

Gerald Bareebe

Kampala

Abandoned by many colleagues in Cabinet and in the ruling National Resistance Movement party, Security Minister Amama Mbabazi over the weekend received support from an unlikely corner ; opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye.

Dr Besigye, who Mr Mbabazi famously accused of jumping the queue to succeed President Museveni when he declared his candidature for the 2001 presidential election, said that the security minister’s adversaries within the NRM are taking advantage of a controversial land transaction between Mr Mbabazi and the National Social Security Fund to harass him beyond what he is responsible for.

Dr Besigye, leader of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change party made the comments on Friday night while addressing members of the FDC youth league at the National Democratic Institute in Nakasero.

He said although Mr Mbabazi could be guilty of political influence-peddling charges, the individuals responsible for running NSSF should bear the biggest blame.

“The likes of [Finance Minister Dr Ezra] Suruma, [NSSF Managing Director David] Jamwa, and [Deputy Managing Director Prof. Mondo] Kagonyera are the real people supposed to take the biggest blame because they were at the centre of the deal,” Dr Besigye said.

The Parliamentary Committee of Commissions, State Enterprises and Statutory Authorities is currently investigating the deal in which the NSSF bought more than 400 acres of land at Temangalo, Wakiso from Mr Mbabazi and his business partner Amos Nzeyi. Suruma, Mr Mbabazi, Mr Nzeyi and NSSF managers all deny any wrong doing.

The MPs investigation is targeting violation of procurement laws, suspected price-inflation, and allegations of political influence peddling made by the Fund Board member who has since said he was quoted out of context.

But what started as an investigation into the investment has, developed into a running political soap opera, complete with tribal and religious undertones, that has split members of Parliament – including those on the committee – senior government officials and officials of the ruling NRM
Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi, a former health minister and senior official in the party, as well as several NRM legislators have openly called for Mr Mbabazi’s resignation or censure.  Mr Mbabazi, who has refused to resign, says he has been targeted by “political vultures”.

Dr Besigye says that the controversial land deal has given Mr Mbabazi’s opponents within the ruling party, a justification to carry out a witch-hunt on the NRM Secretary General, and has diverted the issues being investigated.

 “I think these people fighting Mbabazi are fighting him for other things,” he said. “Whether it’s a succession fight, it doesn’t matter for Uganda. All people in NRM have a problem and we must get rid of them. It doesn’t matter who is in front of whom, all of them should go,” Dr Besigye said.

Dr Besigye, who was President Museveni’s main challenger in the last two elections, attacked NRM for being a one-man vision party. “In NRM the power resides in the king not the people,” he said.

“Its Central Executive is not in charge. It’s Museveni who tells the party what to do instead of the party telling him what to do. Museveni is not interested in making NRM a party because it will control him.”

Muhwezi, Mbabazi clash again

Muhwezi, Mbabazi clash again

Risdel Kasasira & S. Naturinda

The war of words between Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and Rujumbura MP Jim Muhwezi yesterday turned nasty after the two former spy chiefs nearly manhandled each other on the floor of Parliament.

It started after Gen. Muhwezi gave a personal statement in which he accused Mr Mbabazi and Internal Affairs Minister Ruhakana Rugunda of hatching a plan to arrest him.

In the seven-page statement to fellow MPs, Gen. Muhwezi claimed Dr Rugunda and Mr Mbabazi had recommended to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Richard Buteera, that he (Muhwezi) be charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.

“I am reliably informed that the security council meeting headed by the Honourable Rugunda, and attended by the minister of security have recommended the DPP and police to charge me with aggravated robbery and conspiracy tomorrow morning at 9:00am,” he said.

In response, Mr Mbabazi said, “When you see a military general getting panicky, then know that the ground cannot hold anymore.” Immediately, Gen. Muhwezi stood up and asked Deputy Speaker Rebecca Kadaga to rule Mr Mbabazi out of order.

“Is it in order Madam Speaker for Hon. Mbabazi to say I am in panic yet I am here to defend myself against injustice? I am not in panic. It’s you who has been panicking and moving around radios attacking us after the Temangalo scandal,” he said, causing laughter in the House.

Mr Mbabazi told Gen. Muhwezi to “take heart” and wait for the police to complete their investigations. “All I would wish to advise my brother (Muhwezi) is that when one is suspected to be involved in criminal activities, police investigates those who are suspected. If you are suspected, you will go and tell police what you know,” he told the House.

Police will today interrogate Gen. Muhwezi about the role played by his bodyguards in the failed robbery attempt at Stanbic Bank’s Garden City branch. The robbery was allegedly masterminded by city businessman Justus Kashoma, who reportedly met Gen. Muhwezi a day before incident.

Mr Kashoma, who is now the principal suspect, was with five others charged with aggravated robbery on Wednesday. They will re-appear in court on October 15. In his statement, Gen. Muhwezi claimed that Mr Kashoma had dinner with Mr Mbabazi at the minister’s residence two days before the attempted robbery, an allegation the security minister denied.

Gen. Muhwezi, who is a suspect principally because one of his guards was arrested at the scene, said, “Recently, a presidential guard was involved in a robbery. Is Rugunda waiting for the President’s term to end and try him or is he not trying him because of the (Presidential) immunity?”
First Lady Janet Museveni shook her head and looked down.
 
Dr Rugunda also denied the arrest claims, saying, “We have never had a meeting with Mbabazi concerning Muhwezi.” Gen. Muhwezi also attacked The New Vision, saying it is being run by Mbabazi’s henchmen “who are ready to spin to the world through the Internet after I have been arrested, how Muhwezi is a bank robber”

Mr Mbabazi replied, “I have no relative in New Vision. The paper is headed by a woman from Belgium. I have no Belgian relatives.” The situation tensed up after Rubanda East MP Henry Banyenzaki said “some of us who have openly talked about Temangalo land scandal have been threatened and need security”.

Deputy Speaker Kadaga told Prime Minster Apolo Nsibambi to assure MPs on their safety. Prof. Nsibambi ordered Rugunda to provide security to “threatened MPs”, but his order drew boos from MPs.

Gen. Muhwezi and Mr Mbabazi have been involved in a war of words after the former health minister led calls for the censure or dismissal of Mr Mbabazi for his role in the Temangalo-NSSF land saga.

I acted under political pressure, says Jamwa

ByMercy Nalugo & Sheila Naturinda

National Social Security Fund managing director David Chandi Jamwa yesterday admitted that the Fund acted under political pressure in buying more than 400 acres of land from Security Minister Amama Mbabazi and businessman Amos Nzeyi, Members of Parliament investigating the deal told Daily Monitor last evening.

The NSSF MD, who met members of the parliamentary committee investigating the matter in camera yesterday, immediately asked for protection and was given two police bodyguards on the recommendation of the Speaker, Mr Edward Ssekandi and State Minister for Internal Affairs Matia Kasaija.

MPs on the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises have, for more than a month, been investigating the Shs11 billion transaction over allegations of price inflation, disregard of procurement laws, and claims by a board member that the deal was being pushed through amidst political pressure.

NSSF officials, including Mr Jamwa, have previously denied any wrong-doing as has Mr Mbabazi and Mr Nzeyi. The board member who claimed political pressure, Mr Claudius Olweny, also said he was quoted out of context.

However, MPs on the committee told Daily Monitor that Mr Jamwa yesterday said the sellers had put the NSSF under “a lot of immense and terrible pressure” to raise money to buy out the majority shareholders in the National Bank of Commerce before they could sell their stake to Nigerian investors.

“There was a rush and an effort to sell the land and all they needed was the Shs11 billion. There was need to buy out Indians and they had wanted to secure a line of credit from the Tropical Bank,” Jamwa reportedly said. “Whether 100 acres or 500 acres, all they wanted was Shs11 billion.They came to us with a set price.”

Both Mr Mbabazi and Mr Nzeyi are shareholders in the National Bank of Commerce and while they admit to having been in a hurry to raise money to buy out their Kenyan-Indian partners, they have insisted that they did not put pressure on the NSSF.

Finance Minister Dr Ezra Suruma, who approved the deal, is also a shareholder in the bank and defended both buyers and sellers when he appeared before the MPs. A source on the committee revealed that Mr Jamwa yesterday narrated the kind of pressure he was under in pushing through the deal in 10 days.

“They had turned my office into their home and they would come in all the time,” he reportedly said. The NSSF MD testified how he met at one minister and Nzeyi at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort over the matter, followed by several subsequent meetings. He further said that the sellers had hiked the purchase price to Shs35 million per acre but after bargaining had reduced it to Shs24 million.

“I was pushed to the wall that I had no option. Even if it were you, what would you have done?” he asked. Another source quoted Jamwa saying the sellers convinced him that the deal had the blessing of President Museveni whose campaigns one of the sellers claimed to support.

It is not clear what caused Mr Jamwa to change his position on the matter and efforts to get a comment from him or from Mr Mbabazi or Mr Nzeyi about his comments were futile last night.
However, MPs said the NSSF MD had “come out to protect his name”.

Another MP said, “Jamwa revealed everything and asked for guarantee of security. He confessed to us how the deal came up and how the sellers of the land wanted money for their bank. “The guy confided in us in that meeting that he had trust and confidence in us. But the story was a bad story for a young man to be used. During his presentation, the feelings were beyond our imaginations,” the MP revealed.

Yesterday’s revelations are expected to throw a spanner in the works and refocus attention on the role of both ministers in the transaction.

Daily Monitor reported on Monday that Dr Suruma had disregarded orders from Vice President Gilbert Bukenya to send the NSSF board and top management on forced leave. In a September 9 meeting, the Finance Minister also failed to convince the officials to go on forced leave without a written order to that effect.

Both Suruma and Mbabazi gave their submissions under oath but it was not clear yesterday whether MPs on the committee would seek to re-examine them, although a source in Parliament said plans were underway to ask Dr Suruma to reappear.

An hour before Mr Jamwa’s appearance, the committee had received submissions from Ministry of Lands officials who said three titles of the land had not been transferred into the names of the NSSF seven months after the deal because they had caveats.

The committee later met the NSSF Board and is expected to meet Mr Nzeyi today. Mr Jamwa’s revelations will raise questions about political interference in the management of the Fund, which is the country’s biggest financial institution with assets of more than a trillion shillings.

The investigation has sparked off a parallel political contest between Mr Mbabazi and former health minister Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi who is expected to appear before the CID this morning in connection with an investigation into an alleged bank robbery.

The two officials, who have clashed repeatedly in recent weeks, clashed against in parliament yesterday but there is no clear connection between that fight and Mr Jamwa’s revelations.
The revelations at Parliament came as the Inspector General of Government released a report calling for wide-ranging reforms in the management of the Fund to insulate it from political influence.

Additional reporting by Richard Wanambwa