Chinese bribery claims: Man files petition against Kutesa

A citizen has petitioned the High Court in Kampala to declare Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa unfit to hold a public office following bribery allegations against him in a USA court.

The petitioner, Mr Brian Atuheire, wants the High Court to order Mr Kutesa to immediately vacate office as Foreign Affairs minister and be subjected to criminal proceedings before court.

“The 1st respondent (Mr Kutesa) is not fit to hold public office. An order that the 1st respondent immediately vacates the office of the minister of foreign affairs and an order that the 2nd respondent (Attorney General) through the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) commences criminal proceedings against 1st respondent,” Mr Atuheire’s states in his petition.

The petition was filed yesterday.
About two weeks ago, a court in the United States of America convicted former Hong Kong secretary for home affairs, Mr Patrick Ho, on charges of sending a $500,000 bribe (about Shs1.9 billion) to Mr Kutesa to gain business favours in Uganda.
Prosecution relied on evidence gathered by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and submitted in the US court that Mr Ho sent the money from HSBC (Hong Kong) account of the Energy non-government organisation to Deutsche Bank in New York and onto Stanbic Bank in Uganda on May 6, 2016.

Court evidence showed that the alleged bribe to Mr Kutesa was in exchange to secure business dealings in railway services, infrastructure construction, fishing, hydro-energy, banking and finance for the Chinese conglomerate CEFC (China Energy co.)
When asked by a journalist what action President Museveni would take following the bribery claims against his minister, he said he had heard from Mr Kutesa that the money in question was given to his organisation for charity.

According to foreign court records, an FBI agent in Kampala, who tried to trace the NGO’s indicated address, returned without results.

In the petition, Mr Atuheire states that Mr Museveni on December 10 referred to the alleged bribe as a ‘gift’, which is an acknowledgment that the money was indeed received and Mr Kutesa should have declared the same ‘gift’ to the Inspector General of Government as required by law.

Last week, MPs asked the Attorney General William Byaruhanga to come up with a report against the minister regarding the bribery claims.
“I am going to inquire into this matter and at the end of that inquiry, this Parliament shall be made aware of the findings of that investigation,” Mr Byaruhanga told Parliament last week.
“I expect to bring back the report as soon as we resume in January,” he added.

Court is yet to summon Mr Kutesa and the Attorney General to respond to the petition.