Row deepens as Water boss is suspended
Prof Ephraim Kamuntu (L) welcomes the chairperson of the new board of members of National Water and Sewerage Corporation, Mr William Okecho (R) at the company’s head offices in Kampala recently. PHOTO BY Rachel Mabala.
What you need to know:
Water Minister Ephraim Kamuntu, who issued the suspension letter, accuses the board chairperson, Mr William Okecho, of delaying to appoint Mr Silver Mugisha as managing director.
Kampala
The row over the appointment of the National Water & Sewerage Corporation’s (NWSC) new managing director has taken a strange twist, with the Water minister suspending the corporation’s board chairperson.
Prof Ephraim Kamuntu handed over the suspension letter to Mr William Okecho at about 6pm on Tuesday and ordered him to immediately leave a meeting, then underway at the head offices in Luzira, a Kampala suburb.
Mr Okecho says he is a victim of intrigue and politics haunting the search for a new boss.
The minister last evening confirmed the suspension of the ex-West Budama North MP, replacing him with Mr Chris Ebal.
Mr Okecho accused the minister of using him as scapegoat to hide his own indiscretions and influence-peddling in the recruitment process as discovered by the IGG, Ms Irene Mulyagonja. Ms Mulyagonja, following months of investigations, last week recommended that the troubled search for a new MD be re-started using clear recruitment criteria managed by an independent external consultant.
The corporation has been without a substantive head since the departure in 2011 of William Muhairwe.
Mr Silver Mugisha, the corporation’s chief manager for Institutional Development and External Services, came top among six candidates including acting MD Alex Gisagara, but the IGG halted his appointment amid allegations of political interference.
Allegations surfaced at the time that NWSC’s former board, chaired by Ms Christine Nandyose Kasirye, was unduly influenced to switch the position reflected in their unsigned minutes of an August 1, 2012 meeting, indicating that Mr Gisagara was the best candidate after the board interviews, to another position of August 31, 2012, showing instead that the board had resolved to send three names to the minister for consideration.
This year, both President Museveni and Prof Kamuntu weighed in for Mr Mugisha, whom Mr Museveni described as a “new broom” yet he had worked at the corporation for 19 years. As a result, the IGG noted she believed the President was either not properly appraised of, or was intentionally misled.
In her July 15 report, Ms Mulyagonja noted: “Unnecessary political participation and interference should be avoided in order to ensure that even persons that do not have political ‘godfathers’ are given a chance to secure employment in high-level managerial positions…”
Our investigations show that Mr Okecho’s suspension was premised on an April 26 petition to the minister by five board members, who accused him of working with external actors to delay the recruitment process.
They accused him and the corporation secretary, Ms Sarah Walusimbi, of leaking sensitive internal information to third parties, “dillydallying” and taking unilateral decisions to derail Mr Mugisha’s appointment. The petition was signed by Ms Zaria Ndifuna, Ms Ruth Asiimwe, Mr Dennis Nduhura, Mr Daniel Nadhomi and Mr Cecilia Oyet.
In yesterday’s interview, Mr Okecho, who described himself as “a professional board member”, denied any wrongdoing. Filling of the managing director position attracted the attention of development partners, who warned that they understood the imminent appointment “of a particular candidate as the new boss might be effected as a result of pressure on the board of directors from outside”.
It is alleged Mr Kamuntu inserted himself in and tilted the selection through correspondences and telephone calls to board members and management.
