Shs5.5b Kyambogo case hangs in balance
OC Kyambogo University Martin Mbabazi (R) talks to one of the students yesterday. They were are protesting the new fees policy. PHOTO BY JOSEPH KIGGUNDU.
What you need to know:
More time. Police claim they are still studying the case file months after it was reported.
KAMPALA
Investigations into the Shs5.5b scam at Kyambogo University will take longer than anticipated after police said yesterday that they are still studying the case file.
The probe into the scam allegedly engineered by students and top university officials, including casual workers, was launched mid-April by the Kampala Metropolitan boss, Mr Andrew Kaweesi.
However, one month down the road ,it was stopped.
An official at the Jinja Road Police station, where the file was handled who spoke on conditions of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media, intimated that “the case file was requested by CIID officials at Kampala Metropolitan Police in June claiming the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Justice Irene Mulyagonja, had asked for it.”
The official, however, referred this newspaper to the in-charge of criminal investigations at the University Police Post, Mr Nelson Mungasa, who also denied any current knowledge on the file and referred the matter to his bosses. “Yes, I was investigating the case, but please contact the Kampala Metropolitan Police-East regional head of investigations,” Mr Mungasa said adding, “I was told the IGG called for the file and I submitted it in, I don’t know anything else.”
Efforts by this newspaper to speak to Mr Kaweesi were futile as he did not pick up our phone calls.
But the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Mr Ibin Senkumbi, acknowledged that the file has been retrieved but denied knowledge of the IGG ever asking for it. “That is a case involving large sums of money that you don’t just leave with any officer. We called for the file and the head of the CIID here is studying it,” Mr Ssenkumbi said.
The financial scam at the public university was uncovered at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences following a confidential leaked audit report, which also hinted on another Shs20billion unaccounted for in the same period.
Police also apprehended the senior official and his aides in connection with misappropriation, but they have since bounced back in their respective positions. Ms Ali Munira, the IGG’s office spokesperson, denied police’s claims that the IGG had requested for the file case. “That’s a total lie. We have never asked for the file and we have nothing to do with investigation related to the financial embezzlement at Kyambogo,” she affirmed, “Our work is only streamlined to administrative mismanagement,” Ms Munira added.
The students who staged a demonstration on Monday challenging a new fees policy also accused the police of being “lazy” in unraveling the mystery.
