Even more revelations came into the public domain on the Shs billion reward to the 42 government officials after their role in a multi-million dollar oil tax court case.

MPs today learnt that Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) tax assessor who calculated the $434 million capital gains tax (CGT) was not listed among the beneficiaries of the Shs 6 billion reward for winning the case.
                          
Bernard Sanya was a commissioner with URA when Uganda initiated proceedings against Heritage Oil and Gas company. He assessed the tax that was the foundation for the case that was won by Uganda.
 
Parliament’s committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) chaired by Bugweri county MP Abdu Katuntu today learnt that Sanya was not among the 42 top government officials who shared the Shs 6 billion ‘presidential handshake’.
 
While appearing before the committee yet again, Doris Akol, URA’s commissioner general failed to explain why Sanya was excluded from the list of beneficiaries.

Akol said that by the time government decided to reward the team that won the case, Sanya had left URA. She added that Sanya left in 2011 for a consultancy job with Liberia’s revenue authority.
 
Akol’s response raised queries from legislators who questioned why some former URA staff were also considered for the reward. Some of the former URA staff who benefited include current KCCA executive director Jennifer Musisi who received Shs 121 million under the non-core staff category B.

URA commissioner general Doris Akol 

MPs want Akol to explain why Musisi who resigned from URA as commissioner Board and Legal Services in January 2011 was rewarded while Sanya was excluded.
 
Katuntu said that his committee will consider interfacing with Sanya with the possibility of video-conferencing interactions with him.

“And it may not be about Sanya alone, we’re looking at the fairness of the whole thing and at the policy level, madam Akol it is like if you have got this big job you have done and brought in money, I want to imagine it could a target to a reward.

Does the whole institution benefit from it because you already have this 13th cehque which I don’t think there is anybody complaining about. So that should be fair and you won’t even hear some voices from your institution saying why wasn’t I on the list and why was Mr Ssekatawa [Ali, head of legal services] on the list?” said Katuntu.
 
Meanwhile, Robinah Nakakawa, the head of the Natural Resources Unit at URA failed to clarify what role she played to justify Shs 200 million that was given to her in the same pay out.
 
Nakakawa admitted that she attended meetings related to the case in 2009 and left for studies until the following year when she returned and discovered that the tax bill had already been slapped on Heritage Oil and Gas.
 
She told the committee that other officials like Rebecca Nasimbwa, Sam Kahima and others who participated in meetings at the inception of the case did not benefit from the reward.

URA officials will once again appear before the Cosase tomorrow to produce bank statements of recipients and others.