Bigirimana names Mbabazi, Nsibambi

Permanent Secretary Office of the Prime Minister Pius Bigirimana appears before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament yesterday. PHOTO BY GEOFFREY SSERUYANGE.

What you need to know:

Corruption. Mr Bigirimana, the OPM permanent secretary, tells the inquiry that Mr Mbabazi stopped the transfer of Mr Geoffrey Kazinda, who is accused of propagating the fraud at OPM.

The Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday told MPs that the immediate and former political heads of his department were responsible for the scandal in which Shs50 billion worth of donor aid was stolen.

Mr Pius Bigirimana also blamed senior officials at the Treasury when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee, where he laid the blame at the feet of Prime Minster Amama Mbabazi and the man he replaced in the job, Prof. Apolo Nsibambi.

Uganda is reported to be already suffering the crushing effects of an unprecedented foreign aid freeze declared two weeks ago by at least five of the country’s development partners angered at the theft of the billions intended for post-war recovery in northern Uganda and Karamoja sub-region.

The PS kept referring to himself as a whistle-blower. He said by inviting the Auditor General to do an audit which unearthed the scam, he caused “a fundamental change.”

Mr Bigirimana had been expected to appear alongside Mr Geoffrey Kazinda, but the latter never turned up. Instead, some individuals who identified themselves as Mr Kazinda’s lawyers attempted to attend on his behalf but were turned down by the committee. Both PAC chairperson Kassiano Wadri and his deputy, Paul Mwiru, could neither confirm nor deny unverified reports that the Judiciary had written to PAC indicating that Mr Kazinda be excused from appearing since he is already in court over the same matter. The PAC leadership maintained that they still expect Mr Kazinda to appear.

Mr Bigirimana told the inquiry that Mr Mbabazi stopped the transfer of Mr Kazinda.
Last week, Uganda’s Accountant General Gustavio Bwoch had testified to the committee that after he transferred Mr Kazinda to Ministry of Gender on February 27, 2012, he was pressured by Mr Bigirimana and Mr Mbabazi into reinstating the officer. Yesterday, Mr Bigirimana sought to turn the tables, insisting that Mr Bwoch did not tell the whole story.

“In 2011, I requested Bwoch to take away Kazinda but no action was taken,” Mr Bigirimana said. “But on February 27, 2012, I received a letter from the accountant general transferring away Kazinda and I communicated this matter to Prime Minister [Mbabazi]. The PM asked why they had transferred Kazinda. He asked me to ask his supervisor and I wrote to Bwoch.”

Mr Bigirimana said when he wrote to Mr Bwoch, the accountant general refused to reverse Kazinda’s transfer. Two days later, on February 29, he notified the now-interdicted principal accountant about the decision of Mr Bwoch.
Later, Mr Bigirimana said, he travelled abroad but left instructions that Mr Kazinda should leave office.

“In my absence, Mr Kazinda manoeuvred and found his way to [the] Prime Minister’s office and I don’t know what they talked. When I came back, Prime Minister [Mbabazi] summoned me for a meeting which changed the decision. The Prime Minister wanted to know why this man was being transferred,” Mr Bigirimana said.

Amama role
“I found Mr Bwoch, Isaac Mpoza (Commissioner Treasury Services), Mr Lawrence Ssemakula and another commissioner [in the meeting]. I asked the Prime Minister to allow me invite my technical officers to help me answer some of the issues but he said, ‘I am the Prime Minister’. I sat down and Kazinda questions came.”

The committee listened with rapt attention as Mr Bigirmana narrated how in the said meeting Mr Mbabazi asked the accountant general whether Kazinda had committed any fraud to which “Bwoch said no”.

After Mr Bwoch’s answer, Mr Mbabazi reportedly said: ‘Let him stay because he has not committed any fraud.’ “Mr Kazinda’s final transfer was cancelled after consultation with the Prime Minister,” the PS said yesterday.

Asked whether he was influenced by the prime minister, the PS said: “This is a difficult question. The meeting was instructive and blocked the transfer.” Mr Mbabazi was not available for comment yesterday.

On the sacking of Mr Shaban Wejula, the principal internal auditor, who is said to have been the first to suspect the swindle at OPM, Mr Bigirimana said he consulted Prof. Nsibambi for guidance. The then prime minister, according to Bigirimana, is said to have advised the PS to contact Ministry of Finance.

Mr Bigirimana said the person responsible for removing Mr Wejula was Keith Muhakanizi, the deputy secretary to the Treasury. He said Mr Wejula’s removal surprised him because it occurred before he wrote to Mr Muhakanizi giving reasons why he should be removed.
Mr Bigirimana also said that when he called the deputy secretary, Mr Muhakanizi said Wejula was “incompetent”.

When the questioning turned to why Mr Bigirimana continued to quietly operate a long-dormant bank account (the Crisis Management Account) for more than 24 months, he contradicted himself. He first regretted that the account was not closed and then changed positions, saying he did not know about it.

“I had a principal accountant who was not operating in a normal way otherwise these accounts should have been brought to my attention but this was not done,” Mr Bigirimana said.

About the fraudulent transfer of Shs14.8 billion to the Crisis Management Account, Mr Bigirimana said: “The money was transferred on this account without my knowledge ... I knew that this account didn’t have money but Kazinda told me that he had negotiated money to OPM office.”

But when asked why he spent PRDP money for activities outside the work plans, he said: “When this money came it was timely, I had pending programmes and went ahead to use the money. When I saw the release from the accountant general, I thought the money was for the programmes in OPM.”

The PS denied reports that he bought a Mercedes Benz for his wife using PRDP money, and regretted diverting almost Shs2 billion to buy new vehicles for ministers. Bigirimana returns to PAC today.