$10,000 Was Mine, Says Kaijuka Son

STEVEN Kagyezi Kaijuka has said the disputed US$10,000 deposited on his father’s London bank account in 1999 was his, reports Yunusu Abbey.In a letter faxed to The New Vision yesterday, Kagyezi, son to former energy minister Richard Kaijuka, said the money was payment for work he did for a construction project he did not name.Kagyezi, believed to be studying in an Australian university, did not indicate his address nor the city where he faxed the letter from.The letter reads in full, “I, Steven K. Kaijuka, son of Richard Henry Kajura, confirm that the US$10,000 deposited into my father’s bank account in London in early 1999 was my money.“In mid-1997, I met Mr. Paul Hinks, who was managing a construction project near Jinja. At that time, I was a full-time general manager of my family’s flower farm and my father was then in the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development.Mr. Hinks asked me to render part-time advice and service to him on how and where to source workforce and building materials for his project. I accompanied him to Kampala and Jinja for these purposes. We agreed that my total compensation would be US$10,000.As I was planning to go abroad for my post-graduate studies, Mr. Hinks agreed to pay me in convertible currency. Since I did not maintain my own account abroad, Mr. Hinks paid the US$10,000 into my father’s account in London.This payment was not made to my father but me. It was payment for my services on behalf of Mr. Hinks and not for anything that my father did or was asked to do.”Last week, Kaijuka told The New Vision the US$10,000 was legitimate payment to his son for the work he did. He denied ever soliciting or taking a bribe from anyone.Kaijuka, 58, a former Sheema North MP, is now an alternate executive director for Eastern and Southern Africa at the World Bank headquarters in Washington. He represents 22 English-speaking countries. Initial reports had said a Norwegian firm, Veidekke, one of the contractors for Bujagali dam construction consortium, allegedly paid a US$10,000 bribe to a Uganda government official in 1999.Veidekke said in a statement recently that a manager in its English subsidiary, Norcil Ltd., made the unofficial payment. By then, Viedekke was lobbying to build the Karuma Falls dam.On July 8, Premier Prof. Apolo Nsibambi, wrote to the Inspector General of Government (IGG) and asked him to probe the US$10,000 bribe.Last Thursday, President Yoweri Museveni told a press conference in Kampala that the person who took the US$10,000 bribe had been identified and action would be taken against him. He did not name the suspect. Ends