Kaijuka Is Dam Bribe Suspect

BY Yunusu Abbey THE Ugandan official alleged to have received a bribe from one of the Bujagali dam project contractors is believed to be Richard Kaijuka.Kaijuka, then minister of energy, is alleged to have received US$10,000 which was banked on his account abroad in 1999. He is now director for eastern and southern Africa at the world bank headquarters in Washington, USA.Earlier this week, Kaijuka told the wall street journal that he had never received a bribe and did not know any official who had.He lost his ministerial post in an April 5, 1999 Cabinet reshuffle.Yesterday, one of the partners in the construction consortium, Veidekke, a Norwegian company, denied ever officially giving a bribe to any Ugandan official. The company said in a statement that a manager in a subsidiary had made an unauthorised payment in 1999. At that time its English subsidiary, Noricil Ltd, was lobbying for the alternative Karuma falls project in northern Uganda.Other sources said the Inspector General of Government (IGG) had also been investigating the matter.“But when the IGG investigators interviewed Kaijuka, he denied ever soliciting a bribe from the project contractors. He told them the money was banked on his account without his consent,” said a source.On June 11, President Yoweri Museveni in a State of the nation address, said he was investigating an ex-minister who scared away a US$125m investor.But Vice-President Dr. Specioza Kazibwe, who read Museveni’s speech before the MPs, did not name the minister.“In January 1999, a former manager in a UK registered subsidiary of Viedekke, made a one-time payment of US$10,000 to a Ugandan civil servant. “This was before EPC consortium for Bujagali was founded, and the payment is therefore in no way connected to this project,” said a Veidekke company statement.“The payment has never been authorised by Veidekke or any consortium, nor is it in accordance with Viedekke’s policy.The said manager has not been in Viedekke’s employ since 2000, the same year that company was closed down,” it said.It said Veidekke’s management takes a very serious view of this matter. “However, it is important to emphasise that the payment was in no way connected to the Bujagali Hydro Power project.”It added: “Therefore, this should not present a problem for further positive development of this important project, to all parties involved.” The Norwegian firm said its management first learnt about the payments two months ago, “When all previous accounts were closely investigated in order to assure the World Bank and AES that no form of corruption could be related to any of the participants.”The statement said Veidekke reported the incident immediately after it was brought to their attention. “The case is still under internal investigation, so no final conclusion has yet been drawn,” it said. Ends