Inside story of Rural Electrification Agency intrigue, fights

An electricity project in Nwoya District in 2017. The Rural Electrification Agency in the same year promised to install 602 transformers to more than 40 districts. Inset, left to right; Mr Godfrey Werikhe, Mr John Turyagyenda and Mr Godfrey Turyahikayo PHOTO BY JOLLY TOBBIAS OWINY

Locksmiths were called in last week at the offices of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) at Windsor Loop, Kololo, in Kampala to change locks to the offices of the deputy executive director, Mr Godfrey Werikhe and that of the director for project development and management, Mr John Turyagyenda, a clear sign of the battle-lines drawn in the ongoing turf war at the agency. Their work emails too were blocked.

The two officials were sent on suspension, on April 29 by the former REA board, as a sanction after they were faulted by an IGG investigation in January for insubordination and negligence, respectively. The suspension ended last Wednesday and they were supposed to bounce back to office.

Energy minister Goretti Kituttu told said that she had advised the duo to remain on leave pending completion of the ongoing police criminal investigations into massive corruption at the agency.

“There is no crisis at REA that I can assure you. But of course I cannot go into details as you know we are in court over the same matter,” Dr Kituttu said on Thursday at Parliament during the State of Nation Address.

However, inside the corridors of the Kololo-based agency, the toxic boardroom fights have spilled over turning the working environment corrosive, even before the Covid-19 lockdown that sent several staff to work remotely from a home. There is a creeping wave of mistrust and suspicion as staff, especially senior managers, are wary of each other and being associated with the officials on suspension.

Daily Monitor has established that this has been made tense by the wide-ranging police probe into the mismanagement that has troubled REA for years, as several managers both current and former are to be questioned.

President Museveni ordered for the probe in March after receiving a report from intelligence agencies claiming that some senior managers had pocketed $8m (Shs29b) in kickbacks off the ongoing sub-county electrification project funded by Chinese Exim Bank. Mr Werikhe and Mr Turyagenda were named as suspects.

A furious Museveni, according to sources, stopped short of dispatching the State House Ant-corruption Unit to arrest the duo, but instead wrote to Ms Akullo directing her to personally oversee the probe.

Months into the probe, sources say, the Shs29b bribery claim is likely a wild goose chase as the President fell into trap of in fights in government agencies. While the President was told that the money was stolen, Energy ministry sources say, when the line minister, Dr Kituttu sought further clarification from REA management, she was told the money was about to be stolen.

The unending fights
REA is a semi-autonomous body under the Ministry of Energy charged with operationalising government’s rural electrification programmes.

Since March, the agency has been a scandalous fodder for newspaper headlines and online media alleging billions of shillings have been schemed off in dubious contracts. However, to keen observers, this is not entirely new. It has been the norm for years.

The thrust of the current dispute is premised on a power struggle between the long serving executive director Godfrey Turyahikayo, and his deputy Mr Werikhe.

Mr Turyahikayo, 70, sources says is eyeing a contract extension as his current contract expires early next month.
The former REA board had declined to renew his contract last year in May over poor performance but President Museveni directed that he should be given another year in office to clean-up ‘a den of thieves’ against a background of intelligence dossiers alleging corruption and gross financial mismanagement.

The executive director is responsible for the project implementation, overall monitoring and reviewing performance. In addition, he approves all procurement, ensures supervision and verification of completed connections, and chairs quarterly meetings with licenced distribution companies.

The fallout between Mr Turyahikayo, and Mr Werikhe, sources say started in late 2015 after the latter was elevated to deputy executive director/technical operations, to assist the executive director, the year earlier following a mini-board restructuring. Prior, Mr Werikhe served as the manager for project development and management.

At that time, Mr Turyahikayo, who has been at the helm of REA for the last 18 years, had his contract running out in October 2015. Hence the elevation of Mr Werikhe was seen as preparation for a transition.

Mr Turyahikayo was, however, given another four-year contract, following intense lobbying, which expired mid-last year. The dispute escalated as soon as he bounced back to office.

Following the expiry of the former board’s tenure early this year, in April, the Energy ministry enacted a Statutory Instrument (No. 62 of 2020) that introduced changes in the composition of the REA board, and which automatically locked out Mr Turyahikayo out of office once his current contract expires next month, but it was challenged in court.

A public interest law outfit ran to court early last month seeking judicial review over the statutory instrument on grounds that the minister did not adequately consult on the matter. The High Court issued an interim order restraining its enforcement pending hearing of the main application.

Dr Kituttu said roblems at REA “are solvable” and will be handled in the due course.
However, the tangled web of intrigue and fights have also sucked in several external actors, MPs, journalists, and security operatives.

A fortnight ago, the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, called out a group of MPs for allegedly forging their colleagues’ signature to second a motion sneaked on the order paper to instigate a Parliament-led probe of Mr Werikhe, and Mr Turyagyenda.

Ms Kadaga rebuked the MPs’ approach, a matter she referred to the disciplinary committee. She said Parliament could not handle the REA matter at the same time as CIID.

It was the second time MPs were trying to influence events on behalf of their ‘puppet masters.’
Last October, the parliamentary Natural Resources Committee burnt its fingers after it attempted to overstep its boundary to summon the Chinese ambassador in Uganda to answer queries relating to an electrification project his government is financing through the EXIM Bank.

Endless probes
In the latest episode, CIID is looking into among others, financial misappropriation relating to the sub-county electrification project implemented by a Chinese Power company, TBEA Co, and funded by China’s Export-Import (EXIM) Bank to connect power across approximately 3,800 kms of medium voltage and 5,900 kms of low voltage networks with transformers and consumer connections.

The $212m (Shs794b) project was conceptualised in early 2016 with phase one focusing on grid infrastructure for electrification of 558 sub-county headquarters, and phase II focusing on densification and last mile connections.
Later in December, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between REA and the Chinese company.

However, in May 2017, both Mr Turyahikayo and Mr Werikhe, were sent on forced leave by the board, and Mr Turyagenda was tapped acting executive director until the former returned to take charge.

The project being Exim Bank-funded required that a commercial contract with TBEA Co Ltd be signed before the loan is considered, which was done while the duo were on forced leave.

Mr Turyagenda, as acting executive director, documents reveal, after reviewing prepared contracts and compared with the market price for similar works, revised the project costs downwards. Some insiders say this was the source of his problems.

He revised contract price downwards by $80m (Shs298b) to $212m but maintained the scope of works of 3,831kms of medium voltage networks, 5,921kms of low voltage networks, 3,401 distribution transformers, and the connection of 168,335 single phase consumer—in effect connecting 600 sub-counties.

Late last year, REA and the contractor started works on the project from feasibility studies, community sensitisation, following release of the first tranche of the loan money of —$42m (Shs156b).

Stirring trouble
A week after returning to office upon extension of his contract for one year, Mr Turyahikayo stirred the troubled waters on July 27 by transferring supervision of the Chinese funded—Bridging the Demand Supply Balance Gap Through the Accelerated Rural Electrification—project from the project management department to the planning department, which according to insiders, reechoed the battle-lines.

Implementation of the project itself has been bogged down by the administrative chaos inside REA.
In an opinion published in the dailies last month, REA acknowledged that the project is behind schedule but remains on course to be delivered within the three years’ contractual timeframe.

However, the President was told that the officials currently on suspension pocked $8m in kickbacks. A review of the Energy ministry documents, including the bills of quantities show that the accused did not sign anywhere on the contractor’s invoices nor were involved in the initiation of payments.

For example, a lumpsum amount of $8m (Shs29b) was allowed for, among others survey and measurement, Resettlement Action Plan (RAP), and Environment Impact Assessments, which, although had stalled, REA officials say will be undertaken.

The contractors’ invoices and payments by Exim Bank in Beijing show that payments were initiated by the new manager designated to take charge of the projects through the executive director.

The President was told that the accused had shifted the responsibility of the RAP—compensation of project affected persons—from the contractor to be borne by government.

However, the project contract, a copy seen, shows the contractor is responsible for RAP subject to input by the Chief Government valuer.

Designation of office
In one internal memo, that shows the extent of the rift, dated December 3, 2019, Mr Turyahikayo as he went on leave designated the director for planning, in whose docket all the ongoing projects were transferred earlier in July, as acting executive director sidestepping his deputy.

In another incident earlier on in November, Mr Turyangenda and a team he was travelling with to Morocco missed their flight after they were interrupted by immigration officials. The deputy executive director had cleared the travel of the team only for the executive director to upend the arrangement on grounds that he had not been consulted.

These disputes have spilled over and weighed down on other donor-funded projects by the African Development Bank and World Bank.

Sources in the Finance ministry told Daily Monitor separately that the World Bank is “increasingly concerned” about the “scandalous nature of REA” as projects move slowly, and particularly in a light of ongoing discussions on a $400m (Shs1.4 trillion) credit line for the Electricity Access Scale-up Project to support the country’s efforts to scale up access to electricity and clean energy for households including refugees and their host communities, commercial and industrial enterprises, and health and education facilities.

Already, even before the new World Bank loan is approved, REA management is locked in a dispute with its parent Energy ministry over future management of the project. With REA overwhelmed by existing projects, the ministry according to correspondences, suggested that some of the connection works under the World Bank project be sub-leased to Umeme to expedite work but which REA is against.

As fights take centre stage, of specific concern is their impact on service delivery. According to a yet to be released ministry of Energy/Uganda Bureau of Statistics National Electrification Survey Report, the overall access rate to electricity in Uganda is around 42 per cent, with electricity access deficit for about 25.1 million people (5.6 million households) in rural areas where 80 per cent of the population resides.

REA, in its latest performance report, says rural electrification access rate stands at 20 per cent today, with more than 1 million connections onto the national grid, up from 1 per cent in 2001.

Investigations
Lost case
In the last five years, outgoing IGG Irene Mulyagonja has investigated REA thrice and so has the Auditor General John Muwanga with value for money audits, usually sparked by whistleblower reports.

A review of the investigation reports and interviews with multiple sources show the agency is plagued by multiple problems; from administrative to mismanagement to slow implementation of especially donor projects to extend electricity around the country.

One of the curious cases involves senior managers who were pushed out arbitrarily; some sought judicial redress and were awarded damages. Other cases are yet to be decided by the courts of law.

Most recently on March 13, High Court Judge Musa Ssekana ruled in favour of a staff, Ms Emily Mbabazi, who had been terminated arbitrarily by management. The judge ordered for her reinstatement and awarded her damages.