Kampala – According to reliable sources, we have been informed that on Tuesday, 16th,2024, The Inspectorate of Government (IGG) conducted a shock raid at the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) offices following complaints from some UIA Staff who alerted the IGG of serious graft within the Authority by stimulating investigation into the operations and management of UIA.
In a confidential letter addressed to UIA staff, Director General Robert Mukiza revealed that the IGG had issued a search warrant, authorizing its staff and police officers to collect oral, electronic, and documentary evidence. The documents listed for collection included approved budgets, work plans, accountability procurement files, meeting minutes, staff lists, personal files, fuel management records, and more.
The raid caught UIA officials off guard. The IGG staff, accompanied by police officers, arrived at UIA offices at around 4:20 pm. Notably, this surprise operation occurred during a critical time when some UIA officials, board members and staff were away attending the East African Investment and Trade Summit on the sidelines of the NAM Summit.
Following the surprise raid, UIA’s Director General directed all available staff to fully cooperate with the IGG officers during the execution of the search warrant.
In his letter, Mukiza expressed the management’s confusion regarding the motive behind the investigation, as UIA had not been provided with a copy of the complaint but promised to cooperate.
“We have nothing to hide, and we will fully cooperate with the IGG in its investigations under the law,” Mukiza stated in the letter.
WHAT YOU SHOULD BE REMINDED OF:
Late last year, Corruption and mismanagement claims rocked the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) with insiders pointing an accusing finger at some top managers and board members.
Insiders who spoke to this publication wanted the Inspector General of Government (IGG) and the Parliamentary Trade Committee, respectively, to launch investigations into the mismanagement of UIA as a body and the corruption seeping through the management of the Kampala Industrial and Business Park (KIBP).
IBP is a European Union-funded infrastructure scheme for creating a model business hub for a range of industries in a single location in Namanave, outside Kampala, and other gaze areas around the country.
UIA insiders and documents seen by this website detail an elaborate scheme in parcelling land to investors, some phoney, who were being required to pay huge sums of money to navigate the normal bureaucratic processes.
This website withheld some of the cases of the land deals in question pending tightening of loose ends but will soon publish a list.
UIA is the government body charged with initiating and supporting government’s investment initiatives and policies, a mandate that has been clumsily steered during the past five years as the institution oscillated from one crisis to another, especially internal wrangling.
In the latest episode, besides the corruption claims that also suck in supervisors at the Ministry of Finance, a wide section of UIA staff, according to insiders, has been jittery about Director General Robert Mukiza’s leadership style dubbed “authoritarian.”
Mr Mukiza’s authoritarian leadership has seen more than 11 staff depart the organisation creating more gaps and leadership woes.
“His (Mukiza’s) biggest problem is the lack of prior leadership experience in leading a similar organisation,” a staff who spoke to this website anonymously said, “so everything was trial by error and yet he gets easily annoyed when staff hired to do their jobs try to do the right thing.”
Matters are made worse that even the board led by Mr Morrison Rwakakamba has largely remained silent about the issues. For instance, recently the acting human resource managers raised many issues in a dossier to the board.
However, the board first shrugged off the issues and eventually instituted a committee to look into the
issues raised.
“The committee’s report just whitewashed all the crimes raised while the person who raised the issues was sent on forced leave,” insiders revealed.
Another staff member said there had been attempts to bring out the issues to the wider mainstream media but now and then management dishes out money to have the stories not published.
“That is why the investigation is needed as soon as possible,” the staff noted.
