Police raid Posta accounts office
Mar 19, 2009
The Police on Wednesday raided the accounts department of Posta Uganda head office in Kampala and arrested all the 23 staff members there.
By Herbert Ssempogo
The Police on Wednesday raided the accounts department of Posta Uganda head office in Kampala and arrested all the 23 staff members there.
The staff, according to the Police, had planned to burn the finance department in an attempt to cover up financial impropriety.
Twenty employees were herded into a Posta Uganda bus and driven to the Kampala Central Police Station for interrogation after
which they recorded statements.
Three reported to the station yesterday. The staff included accountants and postal officers.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an employee said the Police accused the employees of colluding with former staff to commit the crime.
The source quoted the Police as saying the suspects met the former employees at the Ridar Hotel in Seeta where they “hatched the planâ€.
The suspects were granted a Police bond at about 9:30pm and ordered to report again to the station today for further interrogation.
However, the cashier, Joseph Kirinya, was reportedly detained.
Crime chief Fred Milondo remarked: “We received information about a plan to set the finance department ablaze. We suspect there was fraud, which they wanted to cover up.â€
But according to the employee, who has worked there over the past four years, a top manager was behind the claims.
“He often accuses the entire finance team of sloppiness and failure to report fraud,†the employee said.
The staff member explained that panic gripped the company recently when top jobs were advertised. “There was fear that the recruitment would render many jobless,†the employee noted.
The job advertisement ran in the newspapers on February 9.
Alleging harassment and job insecurity, aggrieved staff have many times petitioned the Workers Union.
A string of meetings between the union and the board of directors and management reportedly yielded nothing.
Managing director James Arinaitwe yesterday said restructuring was underway, which would see the recruitment of a new head of finance, several accountants and the research and development manager.
However, he said, this did not tantamount to a “purgeâ€.
He said the intelligence officers simply wanted assurance that Posta Uganda was not under any threat given its location on the busy Kampala Road.
“We are very responsive to the security situation in town and cooperative with the security agencies,†Arinaitwe stated.
According to him, all staff including him and the proprietors of neighbouring business, were questioned by the detectives.
About fraud in the department, Arinaitwe cited only one incident where thugs broke into the cash office.
The Police are investigating the matter, he said.
The Police on Wednesday raided the accounts department of Posta Uganda head office in Kampala and arrested all the 23 staff members there.
The staff, according to the Police, had planned to burn the finance department in an attempt to cover up financial impropriety.
Twenty employees were herded into a Posta Uganda bus and driven to the Kampala Central Police Station for interrogation after
which they recorded statements.
Three reported to the station yesterday. The staff included accountants and postal officers.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an employee said the Police accused the employees of colluding with former staff to commit the crime.
The source quoted the Police as saying the suspects met the former employees at the Ridar Hotel in Seeta where they “hatched the planâ€.
The suspects were granted a Police bond at about 9:30pm and ordered to report again to the station today for further interrogation.
However, the cashier, Joseph Kirinya, was reportedly detained.
Crime chief Fred Milondo remarked: “We received information about a plan to set the finance department ablaze. We suspect there was fraud, which they wanted to cover up.â€
But according to the employee, who has worked there over the past four years, a top manager was behind the claims.
“He often accuses the entire finance team of sloppiness and failure to report fraud,†the employee said.
The staff member explained that panic gripped the company recently when top jobs were advertised. “There was fear that the recruitment would render many jobless,†the employee noted.
The job advertisement ran in the newspapers on February 9.
Alleging harassment and job insecurity, aggrieved staff have many times petitioned the Workers Union.
A string of meetings between the union and the board of directors and management reportedly yielded nothing.
Managing director James Arinaitwe yesterday said restructuring was underway, which would see the recruitment of a new head of finance, several accountants and the research and development manager.
However, he said, this did not tantamount to a “purgeâ€.
He said the intelligence officers simply wanted assurance that Posta Uganda was not under any threat given its location on the busy Kampala Road.
“We are very responsive to the security situation in town and cooperative with the security agencies,†Arinaitwe stated.
According to him, all staff including him and the proprietors of neighbouring business, were questioned by the detectives.
About fraud in the department, Arinaitwe cited only one incident where thugs broke into the cash office.
The Police are investigating the matter, he said.