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.