MPs fly out to probe choppers

Dec 13, 2000

* Investigations shift to Belarus, Britain, Bulgaria THE parliamentary select committee on defence was last night scheduled to travel to London and later Belarus and Bulgaria to investigate the junk helicopters and tanks bought for the Army.

* Investigations shift to Belarus, Britain, Bulgaria THE parliamentary select committee on defence was last night scheduled to travel to London and later Belarus and Bulgaria to investigate the junk helicopters and tanks bought for the Army. Sources said 13 MPs led by the chairman of the committee, Chris Mudoola, was scheduled to leave at 11.00pm by British Airways. The sources said the team will be in London for two days but will later split into two groups, with one travelling to Belarus and another to Bulgaria. The team will be accompanied by two clerks of Parliament. The team to Belarus to investigate the helicopters will be led by Mudoola, while that to Bulgaria will be headed by Wandera Ogalo (Bukhooli south). The probe committee recently asked Parliament to give it two more months to enable it complete its work. Members said some work entailed visiting countries outside Uganda to investigate some of the purchases. The committee was mandated by Parliament in August 2000 to investigate corruption in the Ministry of Defence, including the helicopter saga, the alleged rotten food bought from South Africa and the payroll inefficiencies. The helicopter scandal has generated a lot of controversy, forcing the Government to institute a judicial commission of inquiry led by High Court Justice Julia Sebutinde. The commission is to investigate the controversial purchase of the two helicopters rejected by the army. The Army had rejected two Mi-24 helicopter gunships supplied by Consolidated Sales Corporation (CSC), a British Virgin Island-registered company from Belarus, saying they were not overhauled. There have also been allegations that their prices had been inflated. According to the deal initiated in 1996, government agreed to pay US$12.9m for four second-hand helicopters from Belarus but the price was later reduced to US$12.2m. Two helicopters were supplied in March 1998 after government paid US$6.5m President Yoweri Museveni and the Minister of State for Defence, Steven Kavuma, recently blamed Col (rtd) Kiiza Besigye for the mess, but Besigye denied any wrong doing and demanded for an open and independent inquiry into the matter. Besigye was the Army Chief of Logistics when the helicopters were bought. He led an inspection team to Belarus in 1997. In June this year, the President directed that the files of senior Defence officers including that of the then permanent Secretary, Ben Mbonye and Maj. Gen Salim Saleh, be sent to the director of Public Prosecutions over their roles in the purchase of the helicopters. Museveni said Saleh, the former reserve Force commander, Besigye and Col. Joshua Masaba, the director of the Airforce, should give a full account of their involvement in the deal. In 1998, reports said over 60 tanks imported from eastern Europe were over 30 years old. About 10 were reportedly grounded in Masaka. Ends.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});