Justice Wolayo to hear Police boss Bangirana case

COURT

KAMPALA - The case in which a concerned citizen sued police boss, Godfrey Bangirana for refusing to vacate office despite the expiry of his contract has been allocated to Justice Henrietta Wolayo.

The deputy head of the Civil Division of the High Court will preside over the case after the parties fail to reach out of court settlement.

The parties will appear before Jolly Shwanda Nkore in a date to be set by court for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) which means settling disputes outside the courtroom.

Isaac Maddo has also petitioned Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, seeking it to prompt various Government agencies to take action on Bangirana.

In his petition, Maddo purports that members of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee received bribes to frustrate Auditor General's inquiry into alleged Bangirana's corruption acts.

He contends that although Bangirana, the Assistant Inspector General of Police and Director Engineering and Logistics' two years contract expired on July 16, this year, he has been kept in office illegally by internal affairs permanent secretary, Dr. Benon Mutambi.

Last week, Maddo dragged Bangirana and Government through the Attorney General to the high court, seeking a declaration that Bangirana's continuation to stay in office after the expiry of his contract is illegal and unlawful.

Following the expiry of the contract, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Martin Okoth Ochola ordered Bangirana to hand over office, stating that his continued stay would raise several queries from the Public Service, the directive he did not adhere to.

Maddo wants Bangirana to vacate office until the matter is determined.

Maddo asserts that Bangirana did not hand over office and further, that Dr. Mutambi directed the officer to remain in office though his contract has expired. Following Mutambi's letter, Ochola reversed his decision.

He contends the continued stay in office by the said officer is unlawful and illegal and the suit is brought to vindicate the rule of law and get the unlawful conduct stopped.

Maddo says Bangirana has continued to draw a salary and emoluments on the consolidated fund, which is public property, and therefore it has to be preserved and protected from abuse and wastage.

Court documents further indicate that Bangirana has not answered the audit queries raised against his directorate before Parliament.

He asserts that the defendants are transgressing the law in a way that offends him as a citizen and taxpayer.

He wants an order that the officer refunds all the salary and emoluments received while in office illegally.

He also wants court to issue an injunction against the Police Authority from renewing the contract until the refund and disposal of the case.

In a recent Police Advisory Committee meeting, Ochola reportedly asked all directors whose contracts were due to expire to prepare to handover to their deputies because the appointing authority will not reportedly renew their contracts.

Bangirana applied to have his two-year contract renewed again through the secretary of the Police Authority recently, but that has not yet been done.

He is also still under a probe by the Inspectorate of Government over allegations of mismanaging procurement deals.

The probe stems from a whistle blower's allegations to the inspectorate, including the purported inflation of the cost of construction of Natete Police Station, which caused a financial loss of over sh200b to the force through the supply of fuel to individuals and accumulation of the institution's debts to more than sh100b.

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