Minister Anite Directs UIA Officials to Refund Shs500m ‘Service Award’

The State Minister of Finance in charge of Investments and Privatization, Hon. Evelyne Anite, has mandated officials at the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) to return over Shs 500 million. This amount was improperly received as ‘honoraria’ from funds designated for transport infrastructure development at Namanve Industrial Park.

In a directive issued on June 12, 2024, to UIA Board Chairman Morrison Rwakakamba, Anite instructed that the officials involved must repay the money within 24 hours. “The UIA Board of Directors should ensure that the following UIA staff and project management team members in the tables below who received the illegal honoraria on 23rd July 2023 from the project funds (loan), refund all the money within 24 hours from the receipt of this letter into the project’s account,” Anite stated. She warned that failure to comply would result in severe consequences.

The Ugandan government secured €219,482,727 from UK Export Finance (UKEF) on December 4, 2019, for developing infrastructure at Kampala Industrial and Business Park, Namanve. However, the project faced significant delays due to inadequate supervision by the consortium of Roughton International Ltd., Turner and Townsend International Ltd., Joadah Consult Ltd., and Basic Group Ltd., leading to the termination of their contract on August 29, 2022.

The controversy intensified when contractor Lagan Dott sought guidance on the payment of the Project Management Team (PMT) and reported previous payments amounting to Shs 545,497,331 from the project loan. UIA further requested an additional Shs 316,696,422 for honoraria, which Anite condemned as “despicable, uncouth, barbaric and uncultured.”

Anite highlighted that the project, expected to be completed by January 5, 2024, was only 50% finished after five years. She emphasized the misuse of funds as detrimental to Ugandan taxpayers and demanded the UIA Board ensure no further unauthorized honoraria requests.

UIA Executive Director Robert Mukiza defended the honoraria, stating it was for additional responsibilities taken on by the PMT and some UIA staff after the termination of the Owner’s Engineer. Mukiza noted that these roles exceeded regular employment duties and referenced section 3.28 of the Human Resource Manual, which allows for such payments under exceptional circumstances.

Despite this justification, Anite insisted the payments were inappropriate and contrary to the vision of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for industrializing Uganda. She urged the Inspector General of Government to investigate the matter further.