He said it is high time Uganda emulated Ireland, which has shifted the burden of proof from the prosecution to the accused in cases of corruption. Ogoola made the remarks at the second Uganda Governance Forum in Kampala.
It was organised by the African Peer Review Mechanism and the Inspectorate of Government. Baku concurred that corruption cases are difficult to handle, especially when judges demand proof beyond reasonable doubt, ‘and reasonable doubt depends on a particular judge handling the case’.
MPs summon IGG govt Internet project
THE parliamentary committee on information technology has summoned the Inspector General of Government (IGG) to explain why he cleared the controversial Government Internet project worth over sh201b.
The committee chairperson, Nathan Igeme Nabeta, said IGG Raphael Baku should also explain the terms and the competence of the technical people who handled the investigation. Baku is expected to appear before the committee next Thursday.
The committee has also summoned ICT minister Aggrey Awori to explain why he defied a parliamentary directive to suspend the second phase of the project. The ministry, according to MPs, went ahead with the second phase on grounds that the contractor had threatened to sue the Government.
The New Vision: Friday, 29th June 2010
MPs order probe into Posta Uganda’s sh12 billion debts.
MPs have asked the Police to investigate Posta Uganda’s claimed debts of over sh12b. This was after the managing director, James Arinaitwe, told the MPs on the parliamentary committee on commissions, state authorities and state enterprises that the institution’s liabilities had greatly accumulated, affecting its operations.
MPs heard that Posta Uganda owes about sh2.4b to Posta Kenya, sh1.3b to the National Social Security Fund, sh1.5b to the Post Pension Scheme and sh1.3b to Uganda Revenue Authority. Arinaitwe explained that the money owed to Posta Kenya accumulated within four years after the previous management diverted it and never remitted it.
He explained that traders would deposit their money with Posta Uganda and withdraw it from Posta Kenya for their business transactions.
RVR controversy drags on
THE future of Rift Valley Railways Investments (RVRI), a company contracted to manage the Kenya-Uganda railway, will be known on February 8. The decision to have the joint railway commission determine whether the troubled company should be allowed to manage the over 900km railway line in the next 12 days, was arrived at during a Wednesday meeting held in Kampala.
The meeting was expected to unveil the firm’s ownership agreement and subsequently transfer of RVRI shares to Kenya-Uganda Railways Holdings. In a joint press statement signed by Uganda’s director of transport, James Itazi and Dr. Cyrus Njiru, Kenya’s works and transport permanent secretary, RVRI shareholders said they had not yet finalised internal negotiations and were, therefore, unable to provide the required documents to meet conditions for the transfer of shareholding to Citadel Capital, an Egyptian firm.
NSSF sues Makerere University over Shs50 billion
The National Social Security Fund has filed a suit against Makerere University and its affiliate school, Makerere University Business School, seeking payment for the outstanding amount of monthly remittances up to over Shs50 billion.
NSSF in its suit, filed at Kampala High Court, claims that the university has reneged on a legal obligation to deduct and remit five per cent of all their employee’ gross salary and the 10 per cent statutory employer contribution to the Fund since 2005.
Makerere University spokesperson Gilbert Kadilo when contacted by telephone said he would not comment on the matter since his office had not received details of the case. “I don’t receive documents on behalf of the university. It is the office of the university secretary responsible for that. I don’t know the actual number of Makerere employees remit their savings to NSSF” Mr Kadilo said.
MUBs Principal, Prof. Waswa Balunywa said his school had no arrears with NSSF.
The Daily Monitor: Friday, 29th January 2010
Government has no will to fight graft, says report
The NRM government has no political will to fight corruption or govern according to the known principals of democracy, a new report has said.
Released by the African Peer Review Mechanism on Thursday, the Uganda Progress report showed that regardless of many anti-corruption regulations put in place by the government, it was terribly losing the fight against corruption.
The report accuses the government of failure to implement key recommendations of different anti-corruption commissions and its malfunction to enforce the existing anti- and regulations need to be enforced.”
The report said the government had failed to institute a mechanism to foster inter-party relations, discipline and conduct. It talks of a need for the government to expedite the signing and implementation of various key international codes and protocols, including the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.
The Daily Monitor: Friday, 29th January 2010