Tears, anger as pensioners testify
L-R Salvatory Obura Ogwal, Geoffrey Posiano Odida, David Muloki and Jimmy Busuulwa present their grievancies while appearing before the Public Accounts Commitee of Parliament about the pension scam. PHOTO BY FAISWAL KASIRYE
What you need to know:
Painful. Pensioners tell MPs how they discovered that their money had been stolen.
PARLIAMENT. MPs investigating the pension scam witnessed some emotion as pensioners whose money was stolen narrated how their photos were used to “siphon” more than Shs165 billion.
The former employees of the East African Community that collapsed in 1977 nearly broke down as they came face–to–face with officials from Bank of Uganda and Cairo International Bank, whom MPs accuse of abetting the fraud that took place in the Ministry of Public Service.
Silence gripped the committee room when the Public Accounts Committee chairperson, Ms Alice Alaso, asked Mr Darwish Osama, the executive director Cairo International Bank, to look into the eyes of “the miserable pensioners” whom she said have endured years of agony because of the fraud.
“I sympathise with them. They are victims of a big conspiracy started by individuals in the Ministry of Public Service, the association of the former EAC employees and individuals working in Cairo Bank. I don’t deny this,” Mr Osama said: “The scam was a big lesson to us and the bank has removed the people involved, improved security and put in place in place internal commitment control systems.”
Five senior citizens Obura Ogwal, Godfrey Odida, David Muloki, Jimmy Busulwa and Mr Abdallah Tebaabe, appeared before PAC where they recounted how “thieves” played with their money.
“For 22 years I have been on the street and you can’t imagine the misery I have gone through without getting my pension,” Mr Odida said. “Some of us joined the Community in 1961, worked devotedly and never went anywhere. Today, I am a miserable man, I live on my children’s mercy. It is a painful thing.”
Mr Ogwal said in 2010 he submitted his documents to the Ministry of Public Service for payment of Shs75 million but nothing came through. “I went to Public Service and they told me the [former] Commissioner for Pensions, Mr Kiwanuka Kunsa had stopped any payments to former EAC workers because we were paid,” Mr Ogwal said.
Mr Odida told the committee that Shs81 million was paid to a one Ludovico Losonto under whose name was his picture yet the names, the bank account and the rest of the details were not his. Mr Busulwa’s photo was given to Hanington Basajja Kambwe and was paid Shs75m and Mr Tibaabe’s photo was given to a one Andrew from Mpigi yet he is from Mukono District.
The committee also heard that Mr Muloki’s photo was labelled under John Sabit Cosmas who accessed Shs89 million from Cairo Bank. However, Mr Muloki said: “I have never opened an account in Cairo Bank, my account is in Housing Finance Bank.”
Mr Odida requested Ms Alaso to allow the Cairo Bank lawyer, Mr Enos Tumusiime, who was their boss at Uganda Railways Corporation, to tell the committee how he feels about their misery. Mr Tumusiime said he feels very bad, but explained that he left in 1996 and that all employees were getting their pension at the time.
Deputy Governor, Mr Louis Kasekende and the director, commercial banking, Mr Benedict Sekabira came under pressure to explain what the MPs called the bank’s failure to supervise Cairo Bank. Mr Sekabira told the committee that they inspected CIB, raised the red flags and removed the CIB board of directors before the pension scam. Mr Osama said some staff at the bank fear to come and testify for fear of being killed by “the thieves”.
