Security to probe service award letter - State House
Combo (L-R): Former Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Mathias Mpuuga, President Museveni and Parliament Speaker Anita Among. PHOTOS/FILE
What you need to know:
- The deputy Presidential Press Secretary, Mr Faruk Kirunda, says State House stands by its earlier stance that the said letter was forged without the knowledge of the President.
State House has said security will investigate the source of what it referred to as a “forged letter”, which surfaced on social media, where the President was quoted as having spoken out on MPs’ cash awards.
In the alleged May 3 letter attributed to the President, he was quoted as having asked Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka if he was aware of a meeting reportedly chaired by Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, where a Shs1.7b service award was shared by four lawmakers who doubled as commissioners.
But in a statement issued by the Presidential Press Unit yesterday, which did not bear any signature nor any other features synonymous with official press releases from the unit, the State House denied the purported May 3 letter.
“The Presidential Press Unit - PPU wishes to inform the General Public that the letter circulating on social media purportedly authored by H.E The President on the subject of service awards to Parliamentary Commissioners is forged and should be ignored,” the notice said.
Previous press releases have borne the mast (including the logo, contact details, the wording ‘press release’ against a grey background, a Coat of Arms watermark, and sign-out). Yesterday’s release was short on all these elements.
In a rejoinder to the letter, the deputy Presidential Press Secretary, Mr Faruk Kirunda, who claimed having authored it, said State House stands by its earlier stance that the said letter was forged without the knowledge of the President.
“Please, note that the PPU statement issued earlier today clarifying the letter purportedly written by H.E the President to the Hon. Attorney General with the subject: ‘Service Awards to Parliamentary Commissioners’ dated May 3, 2024, still stands. Just to confirm; that letter is forged and is the work of self-seekers,” he said.
When this publication sought further clarification on whether the State House was investigating the source of the allegedly “forged letter”, Mr Kirunda was quick to say security agencies would investigate it.
“The intelligence will follow up,” he responded without divulging more details on when such investigations would commence.
The purported letter was copied to the Inspector General of Government, the Director of Public Prosecution, and the chairperson of the NRM caucus.
In the letter, the President was quoted saying the Prime Minister and the Finance minister, who both sit on the Parliamentary Commission, informed him that they only learnt about the said letter in the news.
The allegedly forged letter comes on the heels of another one in which the President last week directed the Inspector General of Government, Ms Beti Kamya, to investigate the alleged property and bank accounts the Speaker of Parliament owns in the UK. The British government a few weeks ago sanctioned Ms Among for benefitting from the Karamoja iron sheets scandal.
In an online campaign dubbed #UgandaParliamentExhibition early this year, the leadership of Parliament was accused of irregularly paying out billions of shillings for corporate social responsibility activities, Shs1.7 billion given to parliamentary commissioners as service awards, and irregular recruitments.
For weeks and even months, the President remained silent but when he went to commission the teaching hospital constructed by the Speaker in Bukedea District, he said the problem was not with Ms Among but with people who were acting on behalf of the foreign agents. He defended the Speaker against the allegations.
Mr Kirunda yesterday said the President’s position has been very clear on corruption and that he doesn’t tolerate it.
He said when the President gets allegations of corruption against government officials, he tasks the relevant organs to investigate such cases.
“The President’s stand is unchanged. There are many institutions charged with investigating cases and preferring due action based on their findings. Those include the Auditor General and CID. It doesn’t require the President to intervene in individual cases or to pronounce himself on them. Additionally, the President has guaranteed the rule of law under which any person can provide information for follow-up by investigators,” he said.
