UEPB bosses on the spot over mismanagement

KAMPALA.
All is not well at the Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB) following reports of financial abuse and mismanagement.
The UEPB officials are accused of misusing money meant to promote the development of trade.
They are also faulted on recruitment of relatives to the agency and poor management of employees, leading to the resignation of at least 26 personnel.

The high staff turnover and financial abuse is blamed on the leadership style of UEPB outgoing executive director Florence Kata.
Ms Kata told the Sunday Monitor that the accusations against her are being investigated. “I am out of UEPB and there are no regrets; I don’t want ghosts following me,” she said.

The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has been petitioned to dig into the allegations after earlier efforts by police reportedly failed. A source in UEPB told the Sunday Monitor that detectives deployed from the Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Directorate were allegedly negotiated out of their original mission and instead turned into coaches tipping the suspects on how to defeat the police inquiry.

Among the contentious issues is the alleged misappropriation of Shs580 million received from the National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads) to help rural farmers’ access regional markets. Ms Kata said an audit cleared her of any wrongdoing.

It is alleged that instead of connecting farmers to regional markets, the UEPB bosses reportedly spent money touring the region with a few selected people who were selected as farmers even when some of them were not.
The money was allegedly spent on paying consultants in Kenya, buying air tickets and paying per diem to UEPB officials. The selected officials were also purportedly chosen on the basis of their closeness to some Board members. Sunday Monitor has obtained copies of contracts signed with consultants and the vouchers for air tickets and per diem for the participants in the tours.

Ms Kata is also accused of recruiting her former househelp as a front desk officer at UEPB. The officer was given a salary higher than some of the employees with more responsibilities.

A copy of UEPB payroll seen by the Sunday Monitor shows that the front desk officer earned a take-home salary of Shs569,000 while other lower ranking officers but above a front desk officer, took home between Shs321,000 to Shs542,000.

Ms Kata, whose term of office ended last week, is also accused of diverting UEPB driver to run her personal errands. She is also accused of influencing the recruitment of her first cousin Brenda Opus Katarikawe to a senior position in UEPB.

Ms Kata denies any relations with the driver and the front desk officer but confirms that Ms Opus is her cousin.
“Brenda [Opus Katarikawe] is my cousin; she joined UEPB through competitive bidding but what is important is to check whether they are rightfully there or not,” she said.

The petitioners have asked the IGG to investigate how Ms Kata and Ms Katarikawe spent Shs180 million wired to them for the Shanghai Expo 2010. The Expo was to market Ugandan exports.

The petitioners claim that the accountability had not been given yet the two still claimed $15,000 (about Shs35m) and $5,040 (about Shs12m) respectively. In addition, Ms Kata is faulted for reportedly spending money in foreign travels which never benefited UEPB.

The Inspector General of Government (IGG) has written to the UEPB chairperson, Maria Odido, informing, her to respond to the host of allegations they had received and demanded that all the board members be ready to respond to further questions during the investigation.

The IGG says Ms Kata is also accused of messing up the recruitment process. “It is specifically alleged that the process is fraught with conflict of interest and nepotism.

The outgoing executive director, Ms Florence Kata, is accused of micromanaging the process with one Sandra Ayebare, a human resource officer, who was allegedly irregularly recruited on account of being a relative to Ms Kata,” reads a February 24 letter signed by Mr David Makumbi, the director for Ombudsman affairs at the Inspectorate of Government.

Documents seen by this newspaper also reveal a controversial vehicle maintenance expenditure in which cars were repaired nearly every week. Sources in UEPB said vehicle repairs were one of the avenues through which money was siphoned.

They said most vehicle repair claims were not genuine and that the disposal of the agency’s vehicles was dubiously handled.
Also contentious is the payment of allowances to the UEPB restructuring committee yet some of them were full time employees. The IGG has tasked the board to explain.

However, UEPB board chief, Ms Odido, has told the IGG that while the agency in charge of export promotion had registered pitfalls, it was not the fault of Ms Kata.

She said Ms Ayebare and Ms Opus, who are Ms Kata’s cousins, “were recruited on merit” by the board. On the issue of irregular payment of allowances, Ms Odido said: “Let me emphatically state that no advances have been paid to any member of the board of directors for this restructuring exercise.”

A document titled: Allowances for the restructuring committee, seen by the Sunday Monitor, shows that members of the committee signed for allowances; some received Shs250, 000 while others got Shs200,000 per sitting.

Ms Odido said the misuse of Shs580 million from Naads and irregular disposal of vehicles and payments to garages, “…are management issues which the board of directors has noted and instituted investigations as to their validity”.

Earlier, the executive director of the Public Procurement and Disposal Public Assets Authority (PPDA), Ms Cornelia Sabiiti, also wrote to UEPB saying the agency several times violated procurement rules and performed poorly.

Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde told the Sunday Monitor that she had received the complaints. “The issue is now with the IGG and they have written to us as well,” she said.
Ms Kata’s tenure in office ended on March 31 but when asked why issues were being raised against her, she said: “Some people in UEPB thought they would be shortlisted but weren’t and they think I was responsible for that.”

Asked what needs to be done to streamline the agency to boost exports, Ms Kata was categorical: “Interest yourself in the workings of the board; do they really understand what they are doing? You need to check the board if you want to evaluate the institution.” Ms Kata said she had done institutional diagnosis in liaison with the UN but the board had not concentrated on restructuring.