Police detains former UBC boss

KAMPALA. Detectives have arrested and detained the former managing director of Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), Mr Paul Kihika, on a range of criminal cases that are under investigations.
Mr Kihika was arrested after failing to honour police summons a fortnight ago.
He is being investigated in connection to a Shs3.6b Uganda Broadcasting Corporation-Airtel sponsorship deal to air the 2014 Fifa World Cup matches.
However, the detectives released him on police bond only to be re-arrested at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters at Kibuli on another sanctioned file of giving false information to a police officer early this year.
Mr Vincent Ssekate, the spokesman of CID, said Mr Kihika has been detained and will appear in court today on the sanctioned file.
It is alleged that Mr Kihika reported a case of theft of his mobile phone by the head of Media Crime unit, Emmanuel Mbonimpa at Jinja Road Police Station whereas the officer had just confiscated it in an investigation of a defamation case against him.
“When the Resident State Attorney read the file, he preferred charges against Mr Kihika,” Mr Ssekate said yesterday.
Mr Kihika’s friends told Daily Monitor that the cases area witch-hunt by senior government officials, including ministers after he exposed a multi-billion deal in which they wanted to parcel UBC frequencies and property to a Chinese digital media company.
In the case of UBC sponsorship deal, police are also investigating the role of Mr Walter Osinde, the UBC internal auditor, and Stephen Rupiha, the former UBC marketing manager in the deal.
Detectives have recorded statements from Mr Osinde, and Patrick Kateba, UBC former finance manager, Eng Angello Nkeza, the former acting UBC managing director, Emmanuel Tumusiime, former UBC sales executive, Mr Cleophus Kizza, a former UBC freelancer, and Mr Edison Asiimwe, a former UBC worker. They were all released on police bond.
Police are investigating allegations of embezzlement, abuse of office, false accounting, causing financial loss and conspiracy to commit a felony against the official while executing a UBC-Airtel deal between 2013 and 2014.
The case stems from alleged embezzlement of partial payments sent by Airtel, a telecom company, to UBC accounts to sponsor the Fifa World Cup matches in Brazil.
Mr Tumusiime is said to have secured the deal and sought a commission from the payments yet he was a permanent worker at UBC.
It is also alleged that Mr Kihika and Mr Nkeza allowed the transfer of money that was meant for the World Cup sponsorship to different accounts which was irregular.

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