Parliament approves FIA board, Bagyenda skips vetting

After hours of questioning and scrutiny, Parliament approved the reappointment of four members of the board of Financial Intelligence Authority.

The officials reappointed include Leo Kibirango as chairman, deputy secretary to the Treasury, Patrick Ocaillap, Assistant Inspector General of Police, Grace Akullo and Patricia Mutesi from the justice ministry.

The officials were recommended for reappointment by finance minister Matia Kasaija. Under section 26(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, members of FIA board serve for a term of three years and are eligible to be reappointed for one more term upon satisfactory performance.

However, one of the members, Justine Bagyenda, former Bank of Uganda director in charge of commercial bank supervision, was not approved since she did not appear before Parliament's appointments committee for vetting.

Justine Bagyenda did not turn up for the vetting process.

Sources on the committee chaired by Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga said the members were informed that Bagyenda was out of the country.

"They did not tell us the details of her whereabouts but the clerk said she had travelled out of the country," a source said.

Immediately after the nomination, Kasaija was criticised for reappointing Bagyenda who is currently under probe by the Inspector General of Government and FIA - the same body investigating her over allegations of illicit accumulation of wealth.

A section of Members of Parliament petitioned Kadaga expressing concern about the re-appointment.

One of the petitioners, Buhweju MP Francis Mwijukye, who also sits on the appointments committee, wondered how the body will investigate its board member without them interfering with the investigation.

"If they had wanted to re-appoint her to the board, at least they should have waited for the outcome of the ongoing investigations," he said.

Wilfred Nuwagaba, the shadow attorney general, asked the appointments committee not to approve Bagyenda's appointment until she is cleared by the Inspector General of Government (IGG) and the FIA.

"I hope sanity will prevail in the appointments committee to stay her vetting and approval pending clearance from the institutions investigating her," Nuwagaba said.

The committee also vetted and appointed Rose Kabogoza as a member of the Service Commission Board and Dr Patricia Achan as commissioner Uganda Human Rights Commission.

The Committee however rejected the approval of Jane Okuo Kajugo as a commissioner Uganda Human Rights Commission on grounds that she was still a serving state attorney.