Family fury as dead kin is named in NSSF inquiry
Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija appears before the NSSF Select Committee at Parliament on February 2. PHOTO | DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- The Select Committee to probe the operations and management of the NSSF was instituted in January and was headed by Mbarara South Division MP Mwine Mpaka.
Untold anger and anguish gripped the family of the late Fiona Lucy Egunyu Asemo, former Kumi Women MP, after she was named by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Select Committee of Parliament among the beneficiaries of the misappropriated Shs2.3bn.
The Select Committee to probe the operations and management of the NSSF was instituted in January and was headed by Mbarara South Division MP Mwine Mpaka.
After their probe, the committee tabled 27 recommendations in the NSSF probe but it is the sixth finding that rubbed the Egunyu family the wrong way. This was after it included the late, who died 10 years ago, among the beneficiaries. She was one of the board members of NSSF before her demise.
According to Mr Pius Okiror, the Egunyu family lawyer, the committee recommendations violate the cardinal rule of natural justice which requires that the other party be heard.
“Article 28 clause 5 of the Constitution says no person shall be tried in their absence. The recommendation by the Select Committee is ill-informed, malicious, illegal and unconstitutional. We shall challenge them in court as a family,” Mr Okiror said at the weekend during a clan meeting.
Egunyu died in 2013, leaving behind an illustrious trail as a shrewd legislator, lawyer, philanthropist and government servant. Her 80-year-old mother received the House’s committee news with tears and shock, arguing it is the first time she will be hearing about a dead person being investigated.
“As a mother, I still feel the pain of her death, please let her rest in peace. If they insist, I will show them where I buried her and see if they can exhume her body for investigations,” she said.
The Kapir Clan head, Mr Eugenio Ogola, said the committee members are literally opening wounds that had healed a long time ago.
“They are reminding us of the deceased. As a clan, we will not accept this malice. We are mobilising the entire clan to walk to Parliament and petition the Speaker. We are surprised that some politicians from Teso, including the Speaker, who is also the Bukedea Woman MP, are calling for the trial of the dead person,” he added.
According to the family, the deceased Asamo and other MPs were not accorded a fair hearing within the ambit of the law.Ms Mary Egunyu, the sister of the deceased, said it is “victimisation” of the lost soul.
“The Select Committee is not being fair because my sister died 10 years ago. What have they been doing since then? This is victimisation because my sister is innocent. Even if the trial went on, who will represent her? They just want to use her as a scapegoat,” she said, adding, “My sister served the government diligently. The President (Mr Museveni) is on record as saying she was incorruptible.”
