MPs want CIID officials reprimanded over pension scam

Apr 23, 2015

MPs have tasked police to take disciplinary action against two CIID detectives for issuing a contradicting report into investigations regarding the embezzlement of sh165b

By Henry Sekanjako

 

MPs on the Parliamentary committee on defense and internal affairs have tasked police to take disciplinary action against two Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Directorate (CIID) detectives for issuing a second contradicting report into investigations regarding the embezzlement and theft of sh165b pension funds.

 

According to the MPs, court dismissed the case basing on the report which exonerated the implicated suspects of embezzling the pension funds.

 

The legislators also grilled CIID Director Grace Akullo for exonerating Cairo Bank which the suspects used to open up pension fund accounts.

 

“The CIID headed by Akullo issued a report, along the way another group gave a report, can we be advised which group is led by you (Grace Akullo director CIID) and the one which issued another report,” asked Odong Otto.

 

Kivumbi Muwanga (Butambala) added; “we demand that these two officers who issued this report be brought to book”.

 

The MPs further demanded that the officials involved be disciplined for taking bribes and leading to the collapse of the case where nine suspects were charged with embezzlement and theft of over sh160b pension funds for about 3,000 employees of the defunct East African Community.

 

In a meeting with internal affairs minister Gen Aronda Nyakairima who was flanked by Akullo among other senior police officers on Thursday at parliament, the MPs ordered that Police also arrests the pension scam suspects who went to the CIID offices claiming to have bribed CIID detectives to jeopardize the investigations.

 

“This issue is still on our hearts, we have not seen any action being taken at all, if they these suspects are known and identified, why then do you go for chicken thieves,” asked Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga). 

 

In response to the MPs concerns, Gen Aronda told the committee that; “the issue of the pension scam is quite disturbing, but we are going to take action against the officials involved”.

 

Explaining circumstances surrounding the case, Akullo said the two detectives who she didn’t name, submitted to the DPP a contradicting report behind her back, different from the first report.

 

“It is an act of indiscipline to issue two reports. Any officer unless delegated you cannot issue out any report.”

 

The aisibly angry Akullo told the committee that she got to know about the second report recently during an interview with one of the local dailies about the case.

 

“I just saw in the sections of the media that there was another report that was issued and I wondered what could have motivated someone to write a second report yet there is one head of CIID of which I am,” said Akullo.

 

In her submission Akullo noted that the money in question is about sh169b and not sh165b adding that during the investigations they discovered more documentary evidence.

 

Akullo also confirmed to the MPs that the case collapsed after two contradicting reports ruling out the issue of lack of evidence in the case.

 

The anti-corruption court last week dismissed the pension scam case on grounds that the state had for two years failed to adduce evidence against the suspects.

 

“It was a very complex case in terms of the method that was used to steal the money. It was investigated by 15 officials and it was not a case Grace Akullo would investigate alone” said Akullo adding that; “we shall however re-instate this case at an appropriate time”.

 

In a press statement on Wednesday, the inspector general of Police Gen Kale Kayihura acknowledged that there could have been short comings by the police in investigating the case to which he assured that the case would be re-instated for further investigations.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});