Pension saga: PS Lwamafa on forced leave

By Conan Businge & Simon Masaba     
            
Salaries for civil servants will this month be delayed due to interruptions caused by the ongoing investigations into the misappropriated sh63billion pension for workers of the East African Community.

The Pension funds which had been released by Government were instead allegedly paid to about 1,000 ghost pensioners; an issue which has left the Public Service ministry's Permanent Secretary Jimmy Lwamafa and six other top officers on hot seats.

The ministry's Principal Communications officer, Jonas Tumwine told New Vision that "the ministry's salary section offices lost three working days when police closed its offices."

"We lost so much time and this greatly affected the data and payroll management desks' work, unfortunately after the 15th of the month," he added. He was not certain how long the delay will be.

Lwamafa was Thursday evening released on police bond, after an application by his lawyer David Abigaba.

He had however, spent the whole day again at the Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Directorate in Kibuli, among other procedures, recording a 'charge and caution' statement on charges of neglect of duty.   
   
His wife Gertrude, the brother Steven Lwamafa, and Kayondo Baganda the chairman of Buddo Association, stood as his sureties.

Sources said the Permanent Secretary had been sent on an indefinite leave.

The other suspects were by last evening still in police custody. They are the Commissioner for Human Resource Jolly Joe Nanseera, the Principal Personnel Officer, Joan Natwenda, the Senior Assistant Records Officer Joyce Nabirye, and the national association secretary Peter Sajjabi.

Others are the ministry's principal accountant Christopher Obey, the director research and development Stephen Kiwanuka Kunsa, and the head of IT Francis Lubega. Sources said they had all been interdicted.