New report accuses former UPPC boss of misconduct

Kampala.

A new report on how Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation (UPPC), embattled managing director Irene Muwanguzi, allegedly mismanaged the parastatal has been sent to President Museveni.

The whistle blowers’ report dated January 10, 2017, implicates Ms Muwanguzi of incompetence, irregularly recruiting workers and awarding ‘fat’ salaries to her accomplices.

It also incriminates her of awarding herself abnormal allowances and approving a strange contract without clearance of the Contract’s Committee, which acts are against the UPPC policy and Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority law.

The report attached with several board minutes and internal memos is copied to Anti-Corruption Court and Uganda Police, among other government institutions.
When contacted, senior presidential press secretary Don Wanyama said he is yet to see the report and could not comment.

According to the report, Ms Muwanguzi appointed herself board secretary and awarded herself Shs300,000 per month for preparing board minutes on top of her more than Shs13 million monthly salary.

She is also accused of spending more than Shs15 million on repairs of her personal vehicle and fuel she has not accounted for.

“Ms Muwanguzi approved payment of her sitting allowance of Shs140,000 as board member as well as a monthly allowance of Shs300,000 to prepare board minutes an act Finance and Administration manager Mr Lawrence George Nuwagira queried,” reads the report, in part.

In another scandal involving recruitment, Ms Muwanguzi is accused of hand picking Mr Micheal Mukasa as her personal driver. According to Mr Mukasa’s employment contract, he was given basic salary is Shs700,000.

“In addition to basic salary, you will be given medical and immediate family,” the contract reads.

However, the report indicates that Mr Mukasa was later given 6 hour daily over time for transporting his boss in jam from Kiwatule to Entebbe and back, earning about another Shs700,000 a month making a total of about Shs1.4 million, a super normal salary as compared to other drivers who earned Shs200,000 to Shs300,000 over time allowance.

Ms Rebecca Kisakye Mayambala and Ms Stella Kyobe Nabatanzi were also handpicked by the managing director to be hired as executive assistants but did not have the qualifications.

In another deal, Ms Muwanguzi in a letter dated June 23, 2015, addressed to her by Contracts Committee chairperson Patrick Mwesigye, she is queried for awarding a contract to a consultant for strategic planning worth Shs25 million after bypassing the contracts committee.

“The contracts committee wondered how the procurement of a consultant to review the strategic plan was in its final stage and yet members were not consulted at the beginning of the process,” it reads.

Her behaviour as a public officer was queried by the corporation secretary Wanyama Kodoli but the managing director still did not take note of the advice of her senior management member.

When contacted, Ms Muwanguzi described the allegations against her as lies. “First of all, I am still the UPPC managing director because I requested the judge to consider his judgment because it was delivered without hearing from my side which he accepted. The said board sitting allowance was not my creation, I found it in place. Recruitment is not my job but a responsibility of human resource while the said consulting contract was the responsibility of the contracts unit. What I did as managing director was network and identify resourceful persons to consider,” she said.

Contract termination

In May 2015, UPPC terminated Ms Muwanguzi’s contract for alleged incompetence and mismanagement but the Inspector General of Government, Ms Irene Mulyagongya, directed the corporation to reinstate her through the then minister for the Presidency.

Mr Barugahare, a former employee of UPPC, sued the corporation board for allowing Ms Muwanguzi to continue holding office after her contract had not been confirmed.
He petitioned court to quash the IGG directives, arguing that it was illegal to retain Ms Muwanguzi Court ruled in favour of Mr Barugahare and she was thrown out of office.