UNRA probe: NEMA boss issued criminal summons
Aug 06, 2015
The commission of inquiry set up by President Yoweri Museveni into alleged fraud and mismanagement at Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) Wednesday issued criminal summons to National Environment Management Authority executive director Dr. Tom Okurut
By John Agaba
The commission of inquiry set up by President Yoweri Museveni into alleged fraud and mismanagement at Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) Wednesday issued criminal summons to National Environment Management Authority executive director Dr. Tom Okurut.
This follows NEMA boss’ failure to appear before the commission irrespective of continuous summons to explain the irregularities on how over 42 land titles in a wetland and forest reserve on the Kampala-Entebbe Express Highway were issued and compensated.
During the hearing at Imperial Royale Hotel (in Kampala), lead counsel, Andrew Kasirye, asked the commission, chaired by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, to issue criminal summons against the environmental watchdog boss.
He accused the Executive Director of ‘sabotaging’ and frustrating the commission’s activities, given the short time in which the commission has to operate.
Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, the Chairperson for the commission of Inquiry into the mismanagement and fraud allegation in the Uganda National Roads Authority at Imperial Royale Kampala on Wed 5th Aug 2015. Photo by Godfrey Kimono.
Justice Bamugemereire gave the lead counsel’s submission a go-ahead. In the summons, Dr. Tom Okurut is asked to appear before the commission by August 7, 9:30am, or else be arrested.
The commission heard that Okurut’s (mobile) phones were off and efforts to deliver to him another summon had been futile as officials at his (Okurut) office were under instructions to not receive any summons for him.
Kasirye told the commission that he had contacted the NEMA boss on phone, regarding the irregularities, before suddenly the phones were switched off — up to today (Wednesday).
In a shockingly fraudulent revelation, the commission heard that 36 land titles, which were located in a wetland and forest reserve, were compensated. This is from the strip-map that the commission has so far examined for the Kampala-Entebbe Express Highway.
The commission heard that over 42 land titles in a wetland and forest reserve were issued “six months, eight months” after Government had ‘marked’ the land for road use.
The question is what was the role of NEMA in all of this irregularity? Did it have a hand? Was the environmental watchdog consulted? These are the questions the commission wants Dr. Tom Okurut to appear and answer.
During the hearing, assistant lead counsel, Mary Kutesa, revealed said that the commission had also summoned the (42) individuals who acquired titles for the contested land and were compensated.
The commission needs to understand the process they acquired the land titles, especially after government had expressed interest in the particular land and marked it for road use.
Mary Kutesa pinned UNRA officials on ignoring Government “interests” to compensate the (36) individuals who, number one, presented titles for land in a wetland and forest reserve and titles for land acquired after Government had showed interest in that particular land.
She said the irregularity caused government financial loss of over sh30b.
“All individuals (36) have already been compensated. Only six have not yet been compensated, on the strip-map we have so far examined,” Kutesa said.
On Monday, the commission heard that several of the individuals compensated along the Kampala-Entebbe Express Highway, were brick layers, and that they had turned ‘billionaires’ from the falsified compensation.
When the inquiry is concluded, all these people who obtained fraudulent compensations, causing government financial loss, will have to return the money. Mary Kutesa said this was part of the objective of the inquiry.
Pressed on whether he could not ‘see’ that UNRA was compensating individuals with wetland and forest reserve titles, David Kyadondo, a safe guards manager at the roads authority, said that the authority approved the payments in consultation with the lands office in the lands ministry.
Pressed on whether they consulted NEMA, the witness said that, for compensation, the authority only consulted the lands office, not NEMA.
Asked on why they (UNRA) went ahead to compensate individuals who had land titles, acquired after government had showed interest in the land, the witness said that the UNRA policy allowed them to sanction the payment “as long as the individual has a title”.
During the hearing, attended by the four inquiry commissioners, and journalists and witness counsel, the commission heard that Government had the first ‘title’ for the land on February 8, 2013. Majority of the land titles presented to claim compensation were written after August 13, 2013.
Kyadondo said that government had showed interest and marked the land for road use, but that it had not obtained the land’s titles, the reason the 42 individuals were able to acquire land titles (after government had showed interest) and get compensated.