Global fund probe money disappears
Jul 07, 2009
Sh960m meant for investigation of people implicated in the embezzlement of money from the Global Fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, has disappeared from Bank of Uganda.
By Mary Karugaba
Sh960m meant for investigation of people implicated in the embezzlement of money from the Global Fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, has disappeared from Bank of Uganda.
The accounting officer for the Directorate of Public Prosecution, Amos Ngolobe, told the public accounts committee that the money was approved as supplementary budget by Parliament and released by the finance ministry in 2006/2007.
He added that the money was not received by the directorate, because it was reportedly wrongly credited to an account belonging to the internal affairs ministry.
Ngolobe said when the directorate asked the internal affairs ministry for the money, it said it had not received it. “So I do not know whether they accessed it. As a result, no investigations were carried out during that year despite their critical importance.â€
Ngolobe added that when the directorate wrote to the finance ministry, it allocated them sh200m more in 2007/8. “We also received additional funds of sh960m in 2008/9.†He requested Parliament to have the money recovered, saying: “We still need it because it will take us two more years to investigate and prosecute the suspects.â€
In a July 2 letter to the public accounts committee (PAC) chairman, Nandala Mafabi, Bank of Uganda also denied knowledge of the funds. The director of banking, John Chemonges, said the money could not be traced.
“You (PAC) wanted to know why sh970m was credited to the internal affairs accounts yet it was for the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP). We are sorry we cannot trace this transaction on the accounts of DPP,†Chemonges said.
This was revealed during a meeting between officials from the DPP and the committee to discuss the queries raised by the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ending June 2007.
In September 2005, President Yoweri Museveni appointed the Principal Judge, James Ogoola, to head a probe into the mismanagement of the Global Fund. This came after the secretariat in Geneva suspended funding to Uganda after auditors issued a damning report on misappropriation of funds.
The commission recommended that the over 300 sub-recipients and individuals be audited further and that former health minister Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi and the two state ministers, Mike Mukula and Alex Kamugisha, be prosecuted.
This resulted into the establishment of the anti-corruption division of the High Court in December 2008 which has convicted two suspects, the presidential adviser on economic monitoring, Teddy Cheeye and the former UTV production manager, Fred Kavuma.
Mafabi directed the Parliament CID to take over the matter with the bank.
The MPs also heard that another sh610m for the directorate also disappeared from Bank of Uganda after the account was closed in 2003. Ngolobe said the directorate had ceased monitoring the account because it presumed that it had been closed by the bank at the end of the financial year and the balance returned to the Consolidated Fund.
According to the statement, the directorate had a balance of sh310m as of December 2002. The money was supposed to be transferred to the Consolidated Fund account. But in January 2003, the account was credited with more sh300m. All the money was then withdrawn on August 3, 2003 in 10 installments and indicated as ‘correction of government accounts.’
“The law demands that all government accounts be closed by the end of the financial year. This is what we thought had been done. We only saw these things today,†Ngolobe said.
The MPs also directed that the CID investigates the case and reports within two weeks.
Sh960m meant for investigation of people implicated in the embezzlement of money from the Global Fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, has disappeared from Bank of Uganda.
The accounting officer for the Directorate of Public Prosecution, Amos Ngolobe, told the public accounts committee that the money was approved as supplementary budget by Parliament and released by the finance ministry in 2006/2007.
He added that the money was not received by the directorate, because it was reportedly wrongly credited to an account belonging to the internal affairs ministry.
Ngolobe said when the directorate asked the internal affairs ministry for the money, it said it had not received it. “So I do not know whether they accessed it. As a result, no investigations were carried out during that year despite their critical importance.â€
Ngolobe added that when the directorate wrote to the finance ministry, it allocated them sh200m more in 2007/8. “We also received additional funds of sh960m in 2008/9.†He requested Parliament to have the money recovered, saying: “We still need it because it will take us two more years to investigate and prosecute the suspects.â€
In a July 2 letter to the public accounts committee (PAC) chairman, Nandala Mafabi, Bank of Uganda also denied knowledge of the funds. The director of banking, John Chemonges, said the money could not be traced.
“You (PAC) wanted to know why sh970m was credited to the internal affairs accounts yet it was for the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP). We are sorry we cannot trace this transaction on the accounts of DPP,†Chemonges said.
This was revealed during a meeting between officials from the DPP and the committee to discuss the queries raised by the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ending June 2007.
In September 2005, President Yoweri Museveni appointed the Principal Judge, James Ogoola, to head a probe into the mismanagement of the Global Fund. This came after the secretariat in Geneva suspended funding to Uganda after auditors issued a damning report on misappropriation of funds.
The commission recommended that the over 300 sub-recipients and individuals be audited further and that former health minister Maj. Gen. Jim Muhwezi and the two state ministers, Mike Mukula and Alex Kamugisha, be prosecuted.
This resulted into the establishment of the anti-corruption division of the High Court in December 2008 which has convicted two suspects, the presidential adviser on economic monitoring, Teddy Cheeye and the former UTV production manager, Fred Kavuma.
Mafabi directed the Parliament CID to take over the matter with the bank.
The MPs also heard that another sh610m for the directorate also disappeared from Bank of Uganda after the account was closed in 2003. Ngolobe said the directorate had ceased monitoring the account because it presumed that it had been closed by the bank at the end of the financial year and the balance returned to the Consolidated Fund.
According to the statement, the directorate had a balance of sh310m as of December 2002. The money was supposed to be transferred to the Consolidated Fund account. But in January 2003, the account was credited with more sh300m. All the money was then withdrawn on August 3, 2003 in 10 installments and indicated as ‘correction of government accounts.’
“The law demands that all government accounts be closed by the end of the financial year. This is what we thought had been done. We only saw these things today,†Ngolobe said.
The MPs also directed that the CID investigates the case and reports within two weeks.