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