Ms Jolly Kaguhangire says she was mistreated by the Emely Kugonza-led board, but God had, after almost after a seven-year wait, finally listened to her prayers. Photo / File
In a drama-filled firing, the Emily Kugonza-led board, on October 26, 2018, finally sacked Jolly Kaguhangire as the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) executive director.
The sacking had followed a series of events, including an interdiction, in which Ms Kaguhangire was accused of gross insubordination, corruption, abuse of office, incompetence, irregular recruitment, misinformation, and lying to the board.
The board also had accused her of causing significant financial loss to government by unjustifiably closing the investment offices at Kampala Investment and Business Park, Namanve.
It was evident that so much had been happening.
Yet, from the outside, it was a story of counteraccusations, but insiders pointed to an environment that had become so hostile for any meaningful work to take place.
So, when the board tried to push back, it was met with one petition after another, which subsequently led to the indictment of Ms Kaguhangire to allow an investigation into matters that had been raised.
But what followed was revealing in itself of a much deeper crisis at the centre of an agency that had been touted as a trailblazer during the Maggie Kigozi days, but had sat back and done little to advance Uganda’s investment agenda in over 10 years.
The most bizarre of all was the exchange between the then-executive director and Mr Kugonza, in which Ms Kaguhangire, after she had been interdicted, vowed she would not leave office because the board had acted illegally.
She noted then that she was “still in office as the UIA executive director carrying out my duties and the mandate of the Authority”, saying that “I am not complying”, because the board had interdicted her in a meeting where there was no quorum.
In a statement, Ms Kaguhangire argued that the meeting in which she had been interdicted lacked the requisite eight-member attendance, noting that although the meeting had started with nine members, three had left in between, which therefore, meant that a non-quorate ‘illegal meeting of only six members had made the impugned decision”.
“This interdiction is not a board decision, and I am not complying with it,” she wrote then.
The stage had been set, and UIA was swift and aggressive in countering what looked like defiance.
In response, UIA, working on the instructions of the board, in what seemed to be a show of who held the powers, changed the locks to Ms Kaguhangire’s office, which left her with no option but to leave.
What had started as an internal struggle had quickly spilled into a full-blown confrontation.
It pitted Ms Kaguhangire in one corner and the Kugonza-led board in the other, partly supported by individuals at the Ministry of Finance - the supervisor - and cheered on by a section of staff, who accused the former executive director of intimidation and creating a hostile work environment.
For months, tensions had been building. Staff, management, and the board had for some time not read from the same page.
And an impending restructuring, which Ms Kaguhangire insisted was necessary to redirect an agency weakened by years of poor leadership, yet it carried a significant mandate to advance Uganda’s investment agenda, had inflamed an already fragile situation.
Camps had formed, and it was only a matter of time before what had been boiling beneath would soon burst into an ugly fight. And at the tail end of everything, Ms Kaguhangire had emerged as the biggest casualty, with no option but to seek a path that she believed would deliver her justice.
First relief
But before she could find this justice, a probe by the Inspector General of Government on May 23, 2019, exonerated her for lack of evidence to back allegations of misuse of funds, illegal recruitment, procurement of online media to carry out a smear campaign against UIA staff and receipt of Shs400m to allocate three companies land in the Kampala Industrial and Business Park, among others.
The IGG did not, however, order her reinstatement as executive director, but this was the first relief, before more would arrive.
In seeking justice, Ms Kaguhangire in September 2018 sued UIA before the Industrial Court, a specialised court for labour and employment disputes, seeking compensation for wrongful and unlawful dismissal.
And after almost seven years of waiting, the court finally delivered the long-awaited justice in a June 11 ruling that noted that UIA had indeed breached the principles of natural justice and labour fairness.
“In the instant case, the board fell short of commencing the disciplinary process because it only reviewed the findings of the investigation and made a decision to dismiss [Ms Kaguhangire] without allowing her to appraise herself of the findings of the investigation and without being heard,” ruled Justice Linda Lillian Tumusiime Mugisha, the head judge of the Industrial Court.
“We declare that the claimant was unlawfully interdicted ... We order [UIA] to pay [Ms Kaguhangire] Shs52m as payment instead of notice, Shs280m as general damages, Shs35m as aggravated damages, and Shs17.9m,” she ruled further.
Mr Kugonza has since left UIA, after his board was disbanded by Finance Minister Matia Kasaija in March 2019, and joined parliamentary politics, where he is the current MP for Buyanja East in Kibale District.
Yesterday, he said he was “not aware of any exoneration of the former ED of UIA by any Court, nor was he "aware of any court case in that respect”.
UIA has not indicated that it would appeal Ms Kaguhangire's award.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Matia Kasaija, the Minister of Finance under whom UIA is supervised, were futile. “I cannot comment about an issue I don't have details about. Please get in touch with UIA," he said.
The Finance Ministry, save for occasional comments, had largely remained silent and absent from a saga that had threatened the core of the country’s investment agenda.
Mr Robert Kyamanywa, who has since replaced Mr Morrison Rwakakamba as UIA chairman, was also not available for comment.
However, yesterday, Ms Kaguhangire told Monitor that the court's decision was “a testament that justice can still be served to those mistreated”.
“I had completely lost hope. I owe this to God,” she said, but noted that the court's award could not compensate her losses, including the 33 months that had remained on her contract, reputational damage, and the emotional torture she went through at the time.
“When you factor in the salary, NSSF, and opportunities that would have come during those months, and the emotional torture, my career was cut short,” she said.
Kaguhangire timeline
Events before and after her sacking
June 20, 2018: IGG petitioned to investigate Ms Kaguhangire
June 26, 2018: She is interdicted: UIA starts own investigation, Bazil Ajer appointed acting Executive Director
June 27, 2018: She refuses to leave office
June 29, 2018: She is forced out
July 5, 2018: Ms Kaguhangire and UIA meet President Museveni, he asks her to hand over
July 11, 2018: Handover is conducted without Ms Kaguhangire
September 2018: She sues UIA.
September 11, 2018: She declines to appear before UIA investigations committee
End of September: Ms Kaguhangire drops case against UIA
October 26, 2018: UIA fires Ms Kaguhangire
October 29, 2018: Acting executive director Bazil Ajer resigns
December 20, 2018: Recruitment process for new executive director begins
February 2019: Mr Ajar leaves UIA. Mr Lawrence Byensi is appointed acting Executive Director
February 6, 2019: Contracts of 13 board members are terminated
