Parliament approves deputy IGG

By Joyce Namutebi and Henry Sekanjako      
     
The appointments committee of Parliament has approved George Bamugemereire as deputy Inspector General of Government.

 Sources said the committee found Bamugemereire very resourceful and very informed. "I think that he is going to do a very good job," one of the members said after the closed door vetting exercise chaired by the Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga.

 President Yoweri Museveni had nominated Bamugemereire after he withdrew from Parliament the name of Andrew Munanura Karokora whom he had earlier on nominated for the post.

Once appointed, Bamugemereire will work alongside Raphael Baku in deputising the substantive IGG, Irene Mulyagonja.
Early this year, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Inspectorate of Government could not carry on with its work until the office is fully constituted.

MPs, according to sources, asked Bamugemereire a number of questions including how he was going to handle the 'big' corrupt officials and whether he was a person of integrity.

He is said to have assured that committee that he is going to work to ensure that laws are implemented without fear or favour.

According to sources, Bamugemereire told the committee that he was not in favour of prosecution of the corrupt in the courts of law because courts take long on cases. He assured that the IGG has the capacity to penalise people found corrupt if he has enough evidence, rather than government wasting more money to prosecute them, sources said.
He is said to have told the committee that government has lost a lot of  resources adding that it is time to act on the law breakers.

The MPs, sources said, told Bamugemereire to also clean up corruption in IGG's office.

Born on September 23, 1965, George Nathan Bamugemereire is married to Catherine and they have two children. He has been a private consultant.

Before that, he worked with Shell for 14 years at senior levels in Africa, Europe and Latin America. He was a State Attorney in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions from 1990 to 1995.

He brings a wealth of knowledge gathered from both the public and the private sector in Uganda and a mix of both local and international experience.
As a prosecuting lawyer, he is remembered for his zero tolerance to corruption, which he firmly enforced as a State Attorney.
It was in recognition of the values of integrity and commitment that in 1996, he was head hunted from the public service into the Shell Group.

After leaving Shell he registered HIM Consult a human resource and legal consulting firm in which he has been executive director.

He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree and a Master of Laws (LLM), plus a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice.

Bamugemereire is an advocate of the High Court since 1991.

He attended Mwiri Primary School from 1972 to1978 and King's College Budo from 1979 to 1985, before joining Makerere University.