A former attorney general yesterday said the ‘presidential handshake’ bonus was President Museveni’s idea. And the House’s Budget committee rejected a supplementary budget that included the controversial payment, reports OLIVE EYOTARU.
Former Attorney General Freddie Ruhindi yesterday told MPs that the public officials who shared a Shs 6 billion windfall from President Museveni never solicited for it.
Ruhindi appeared before parliament’s committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase), to absolve himself and 41 other beneficiaries who got Museveni’s “presidential handshake” after winning a tax arbitration case against Heritage Oil and Gas. He said the president, and not the beneficiaries, came up with the idea of the bonus reward.
Seated alongside his predecessor Peter Nyombi, Solicitor General Francis Atoke; and Christopher Gashirabake, the director of Legal Affairs in the Attorney General’s chambers, Ruhindi roundly rejected an accusation that the team he led after he was appointed attorney general on March 1, 2015, “begged” for the reward.
His testimony contradicted that of Doris Akol, the commissioner general of Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), who said Ruhindi was the mastermind of the presidential handshake.
Ruhindi said his June 2015 letter to Museveni only reminded the president about his promise to reward the officials who had helped to win the case.
“My letter is very clear. It was a reminder of a promise, which was made [by the president] in a cabinet meeting of November 19, 2014. Even before we met him in Rwakitura [in May 2015], that letter had been written,” Ruhindi told the committee.
Moses Kasibante (Lubaga North) read out a paragraph of President Museveni’s letter to the minister of finance dated November 1, 2015, which said he “met with the officials at Rwakitura and they requested to be considered for a reward in appreciation for the work done.”
Kasibante said that paragraph shows the officials solicited for the reward. Ruhindi clarified that the president’s letter, which came after the Rwakitura meeting, was in the context of his previous promise.
LEGALITY OF REWARD
Committee chairman Abdu Katuntu pinned Solicitor General Francis Atoke, who received Shs 129 million, on the legality of the payments. Atoke, in a defensive tone, told the MPs that articles 98 and 99 of the Constitution, which outline the existence and authority of the president respectively, give President Museveni the prerogative to endorse the payments.
He further said that the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders, as well as The National Honours and Awards Act allow the president to honour and reward public officers.
“The articles give the president, as the fountain of honour, the authority. Even if there is no law [operationalizing] it… And then under the Public Standing Orders, it allows for rewards to be given to public officers, especially if they exhibit exemplary performance,” Atoke said.
All this was said as Nyombi, who arrived late for the meeting, sat quietly, occasionally closing his eyes. He later requested Katuntu to leave the meeting.
UNFAIR PAYMENT
However, Katuntu reminded Atoke that in 2014, the inspector general of Government blocked the payment of a reward to Patricia Mutesi, a principal state attorney under his docket, who helped the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) win a case against construction company Alcon and saved Shs 60 billion.
Atoke, however, said that while the ministry had recommended that Mutesi should be paid, the IGG opined that she was not an NSSF employee and was not entitled to benefit from the Fund’s rewards.
But Katuntu didn’t buy that argument, asking Atoke:“Are you an employee of URA and did you benefit from funds from URA?”
Atoke said he wasn’t sure where the money paid to him was drawn from, drawing murmurs and laughter from the legislators.
“I don’t know the details, Mr Chairman. I was informed by URA that my money was ready. But this was not from my vote [Justice ministry],” the solicitor general said.
Asked whether he advised the URA board about the payments, Atoke said he only communicated to Akol, because as a lawyer, she knows the consequences of not following procedure.
“The commissioner general is a lady of substance and I hold her in high esteem. I did not want to query her, have you done this…have you done this? That would mean I am belittling her and querying her integrity,” Atoke pleaded.
The committee meets the officials again today.
PAYMENT ‘BLOCKED’’
Meanwhile, the House Budget committee yesterday declined to approve a Shs 255.722bn supplementary request, which included the Shs 6bn cash bonuses, until Cosase releases a report of its findings.
In the supplementary request, the minister of state for finance, David Bahati, said the supplementary expenditure under schedule 1 would cater for the Office of the President, State House, Office of the Prime Minister, URA’s Shs 6bn and Uganda Land Commission, among others.
Buyaga West MP Barnabas Tinkasiimire said: “There was gross mismanagement of this money [Shs 6bn]; for example, someone was given Shs 50m for
photocopying [documents]? There are other things we can talk about but not this money.”
Budget committee chairman Amos Lugoloobi then said: “It’s difficult for us to proceed until they [Cosase] have pronounced themselves on those issues. We have no choice…after all, it’s not too late.”
Government often spends money and brings supplementary budgets to parliament for formality approval.
Additional reporting by Josephine Namuloki.
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