Deputy IGP Sabiiti struggles to explain Bangirana’s stay in office

PARLIAMENT- The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Sabiiti Muzeeyi had a tough time on Tuesday in Parliament, while explaining circumstances under which Commissioner of Police, Mr Godfrey Bangirana is still the force’s Director of Engineering and Logistics.

Maj Gen Sabiiti led a delegation of police officers to answer a wide range of question about police operations before the Parliament Accounts Committee (PAC) chaired by Budadiri West MP, Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi.

Mr Bangirana’s continued stay in office has been a centre for controversy within the force, in the face of counter correspondences, asking him to quit office.

During the sitting where officers were expected to account for excess expenditure of money above the approved budget,  Kalungu West MP, Mr Joseph Sewungu wondered where there was a stranger [Mr Bangirana] in the House.

“This committee does not entertain strangers and whenever we are proceeding, we need the right people represented here; I know Commissioner Bangirana’s time expired and he has introduced himself in the same capacity yet the IGP directed him to vacate office and he refused. Are we having Bangirana as a witness or as a full commissioner,” Mr Sewungu asked.

This prompted Mr Mafabi to task Maj Gen Sabiiti to explain the anomaly.

 “Anybody who holds office will come to account; is Bangirana  here as AIGP or he is here to deal with issues that happened when he was in office?,” Mr Mafabi asked.

Article 154 of the Constitution requires officers [both incumbents and former] to account for concerns registered during their stay in office.

This, however, was not the case for Mr Bangirana.

Mr Rogers Muhirwa, the police undersecretary passed the question to the head of delegation, Maj Gen Sabiiti.

“He is still in office,” Maj Gen Sabiiti said. “[The] IGP wrote to the Police Authority, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Internal Affairs wrote back giving him some time in office, until [the ] Police Authority finishes its work.”

However, Maj Gen Sabiiti failed to present a letter of appointment extending the Mr Bangirana’s tenure.

 “We did not come to respond to this issue. So, we did not carry the letter,” he said.

Mr Mafabi insisted that a copy of the letter be delivered by closure of business on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the senior police  officers failed to explain circumstances under which the police spent billions of taxpayers’ money in budget overruns.

Last month, PAC gave police more time to consolidate their accountability, after realising that shs100 billion had been spent in excess of the budget for the year ending June 30, 2018.

There were fresh anomalies discovered where police could not explain how Shs875 million meant for the Consolidated Fund remained on the account of the force

The committee also tasked the authority to present a clean record of nontax revenue generated from licenses and guns rented out to private individuals and firms by Wednesday.

 
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