Three Wakiso officials interdicted over fraud

Kampala. Three top officials in Wakiso District have been interdicted and barred from leaving the country without official permission.
They include Kasanje town clerk Cox Ssempebwa, Wakiso Town Council engineer Robinson Ssemakula and Betty Kyozira, the Kakiri town council treasurer.
The trio is accused of poor project management, connivance to defraud and flouting procurement processes, resulting in Shs128m allegedly been spirited away from Wakiso Town Council account without due process.
In a November 14 letter to each of the trio, Wakiso Chief Administrative Officer Luke Lokuda, wrote that: “I hereby interdict you from exercising your duties to pave way for further investigations into mismanagement of funds. After receiving your defence, we carried out verification of the allegations and concluded that this case requires our inquiry and value-for-money audit.”

Contract money
The money was to be paid for a contract worth Shs160m to fill potholes on the 1.3km Buganda Road. The road starts from Wakiso Town junction towards the market past Wakiso Health Centre IV.
It is alleged that Mr Ssemakula sub-contracted himself and supplied the required material to the contractor and he received Shs45m.
The treasurer and the town clerk are accused of paying Shs128m without certification of the works by the engineer, as required by law, yet the engineer doubled as the project manager.
“That is in breach of financial and accounting regulations where works must be measured, approved and certified by the project manager,” said Mr Lokuda. Kakiri town treasurer Kyozira, when contacted yesterday, denied any wrongdoing and said: “I neither know you nor what you are saying”. Mr Ssemakula said he was travelling but had not reverted to us as promised by press time.
He has had previous run-ins with Wakiso administrators over similar allegations, and last year declined to hand over office after interdiction, claiming it was a “mafia witch hunt”. Police later evicted him from office.
Wakiso District chairperson Matiya Bwanika yesterday said “god-fathering” was keeping “unfit” technocrats in offices.
Mr Ssempebwa’s transfer from Wakiso to Kasanje Town Council early this year was greeted with a protest by LCIII chairman Steven Kabuye, who tasked the CAO to interdict rather than move the engineer in different jurisdictions.