The deal, according to the committee, was given to Balton Uganda, to supply the radio network system known as TETRA. TETRA Network was to provide communication services to security agencies, including the external and Internal security organisations, the Police, the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces and the Presidential Guard Brigade.
But MPs noted that the company was awarded the contract without following the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act (PPDA). A further investigation reveals that on October 13 2006, Kayihura wrote to the ICT ministry, saying the President had authorised the security sub-committee to procure the communication system.
Kayihura said the security committee had convinced the President that the radio communication system was appropriate.
The New Vision: Friday, 5th February 2010
Mbarara Hospital boss to refund sh300m
MBARARA Hospital boss Dr. Placid Mihayo has been ordered to refund sh320m which he spent without authority from the finance ministry permanent secretary and secretary to the treasury. The public accounts committee, chaired by MP Charles Oduman (FDC), yesterday gave Mihayo two weeks to pay the money or face arrest.
The money, which was spent in the financial year 2007/08, was queried by the Auditor General (AG). Mihayo pleaded with the committee, saying he incurred the arrears in the procurement of drugs and sundries after the finance ministry failed to release funds for the purchase of drugs.
Wife of education PS investigated over job
THE wife of the education ministry permanent secretary, Francis Lubanga was on Thursday interrogated over allegations that she was irregularly appointed as a head teacher. Anne Mary Lubanga, the Kyambogo College headteacher, arrived at the CID head office in Kibuli, Kampala accompanied by her lawyer.
General crimes chief, Grace Akullo, questioned Anne Lubanga over claims that her husband used nepotism to get her the job. Among the queries was whether Lubanga’s wife sat for interviews and if she had the qualifications.
This comes two months after a whistle-blower penned a dossier in which Lubanga was accused of nepotism, fraud, malicious dismissal of subordinates and abuse of office.
The New Vision: Friday, 5th February 2010
Govt not obliged to reveal oil agreements – court
Court has saved the Government from having to disclose details of agreements made with the multi-national companies prospecting for and exploiting oil in Uganda. The Chief Magistrate at Nakawa Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition that journalists Charles Mwanguhya Mpagi and Angello Izama lodged to compel the government to disclose the oil agreements.
The journalists’ petition followed the refusal by the Attorney General (AG) and the Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Energy’s refusal to grant them access to the agreements. On May 3, 2007, Mwanguhya and Izama wrote to the two offices requesting for certified copies of the agreements.
The PS wrote back saying that he needed to consult with the concerned government agencies and the stakeholders on whether he should avail the agreements. However, the AG wrote stating that there was a clause in the agreements which called for confidentiality and that disclosure of the contents of the agreements would be in breach of the contract.
The New Vision: Friday, 5th February 2010
Kick out libel cases, government told
The Committee to Protect Journalists has asked the government to erase the felony of criminal defamation from the penal code. The US-based organisation that fights for the rights of journalists, issued a press statement on Wednesday saying it was time Uganda joined the world democracies by eliminating the Act.
The statement was issued after two Daily Monitor journalists were charged with criminal libel following the publication of an article that the State says defamed the President.
Mr Henry Ochieng, the Sunday Monitor editor and Mr Angelo Izama, a staff writer, were charged at Makindye Court on the basis of a December 19, 2009 article that drew comparisons between President Museveni’s regime and that of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was deposed in 1986.
The Daily Monitor: Friday, 5th January 2010