FDC demands conviction for all named in Gavi scam

The money was meant to fund youth and women advocacy by the Office of the First Lady.

The opposition FDC yesterday demanded the prosecution of all officials reported to have had a hand in the embezzled funds meant for immunisation campaigns under the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi).

The call comes after the Anti-Corruption Court sentenced former junior Health minister Mike Mukula to four years in prison for embezzling Shs210 million from the Gavi account.
However, some co-accused in the Shs1.6 billion case were cleared by the court last year.

They were Jim Muhwezi (former Health minister) and Alex Kamugisha (former Junior Minister). Ms Alice Kaboyo, the former private secretary –in-charge of Political affairs at State House was convicted and fined.

Addressing a press conference at the FDC headquarters in Najjanakumbi, party spokesperson Wafula Oguttu said all the major corruption scandals in Uganda “originate and end in State House.”

“Capt. Mukula told me about three years ago that the request come from President Museveni and that he delivered all the money to Janet Museveni. She should explain,” Mr Oguttu said.

However, Presidential spokesman Tamale Mirundi dismissed as “rubbish” what he called attempts to hide behind the President’s name.
“Hiding behind State House will not help because if you are a priest and are supposed to practice celibacy and do not do it, you can’t blame the Pope for that,” Mr Mirundi said.

He added: “Capt. Mukula has been bragging that the First Lady should go in the dock but he forgets that Uganda Women’s Effort to Save Orphans was doing work for the youth and children and provided accountability for the money it received.”

The money was meant to fund youth and women advocacy by the Office of the First Lady.

Mr Oguttu dismissed talk of selective prosecution, saying that Mukula is “a worker and not a major shareholder in the NRM and should have known his position”.

The lead prosecutor Sydney Asubo dismissed the demands by the FDC party as “unfortunate.”

“They perhaps did not follow the proceedings, do not know the charges and might not have read the judgement,” she said.

Ms Asubo added that prosecution would have been happy if all the accused were convicted but “court gave its reasons and we did not appeal though we were not happy”.

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