Chaos as police block publishing chief from office

Entebbe. Business at the Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation (UPPC) in Entebbe was last Thursday paralysed after police and other security personnel blocked its managing director, Ms Irene Muwanguzi, from accessing her office.
The mid-morning spectacle ensued at the UPPC gate as Ms Muwanguzi reported for work a day after court in Kampala halted her removal from office.

Accompanied by her lawyer and guard, Ms Muwanguzi, who showed the security personel a copy of the court order was denied entry, prompting a hot verbal exchange before she was allowed access but her guard was disarmed. She then held a closed-door meeting with officials at the UPPC premises where it was agreed that another meeting be held on Monday, September 26, to further discuss her fate.

Ms Muwanguzi was reporting to resume her duties following a Wednesday court ruling that blocked her removal from office until her appeal is concluded.
The deputy registrar of the Execution Division of the High Court, Mr Muse Musimbi, issued the interim order allowing Ms Muwanguzi to remain in office.
Mr Justus Barugahare, a former employee of UPPC, sued the corporation’s board on account that Ms Muwanguzi was holding office unlawfully after expiry of her probation in December 1, 2015.

In May 2015, UPPC terminated Ms Muwanguzi’s contract but the Inspector General of Government directed that the corporation reverse its decision and reinstate her.
Mr Barugahare petitioned court to quash the IGG’s directives. In the consent judgment entered between UPPC and Mr Barugahare, it was agreed that Ms Muwanguzi be removed from office.
Ms Muwanguzi, however, challenged the ruling before the High Court, on grounds that the lawyer who represented the UPPC board in court did not have valid instructions since the tenure of the board had expired on June 30.

Mr George Mugerwa, the commissioner in charge of monitoring and evaluation in the President’s Office told journalists on Thursday that he was appointed caretaker until the impasse is resolved. “The reason of our coming resulted from an identified vacuum in management and the President’s Office decided that the vacuum be filled. Our intervention is to ensure that workers keep the momentum and work moves on,” Mr Mugerwa said, adding that Ms Muwanguzi was blocked from accessing the office because she came with people that security did not know yet it is their duty to assess who was in the car before allowing them entry.

Her lawyer described the Thursday incident as contempt of the court order.
Muwanguzi’s take
Following Thursday’s incident, Ms Muwanguzi told Daily Monitor that she would wait for the Minister for the Presidency, Ms Esther Mbayo Mbulakubuza, who is out of the country, to give further guidance on her stay in office.