KAMPALA: Corruption and mismanagement claims have rocked the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) with insiders pointing an accusing finger to some top managers and board members.
Insiders who spoke to this publication want the Inspector General of Government (IGG) and the parliamentary trade committee, respectively, to launch investigations into mismanagement of UIA as a body and the corruption seeping through management of the Kampala Industrial and Business Park (KIBP).
KIBP is a European Union-funded infrastructure scheme for creating a model business hub for a range of industries in a single location in Namanave, outside Kampala, and other gazzated areas around the country.
UIA insiders and documents seen by this website detail an elaborate scheme in parceling land to investors, some phony, who are being required to pay huge sums of money to navigate the normal bureaucratic processes. This website is withholding onto some of the cases of the land deals in question pending tightening of loose ends but will soon publish a list.
UIA is the government body charged with initiating and supporting government’s investment initiatives and policies, a mandate has been clumsily steered during the past five years as the institution oscillated from one crisis to another, especially internal wranglings.
In the latest episode, besides the corruption claims that also suck in supervisors at the Ministry of Finance, a wide section of UIA staff, according to insiders, have been jittery about the Director General Robert Mukiza’s leadership style dubbed “authoritarian.”
Mr Mukiza’s authoritarian leadership has seen more than 11 staff depart the organisation creating more gaps and leadership woes.
“His (Mukiza’s) biggest problem is the lack of prior leadership experience in leading a similar organisation,” a staff who spoke to this website anonymously said, “so everything is trial by error and yet he gets easily annoyed when staff hired to do their jobs try to do the right thing.”
Matters are made worse that even the board led by Mr Morrison Rwakakamba has largely remained silent about the issues. For instance, recently the acting human resource managers raised a number of issues in a dossier to the board. However, the board first shrugged off the issues and eventually instituted a committee to look into the issues raised.
“The committee’s report just whitewashed all the crimes raised while the person who raised the issues was sent on forced leave,” insiders revealed.
Another staff member said there have been attempts to bring out the issues to the wider mainstream media but every now and then management dishes out money to have the stories not published.
“That is why the investigation is needed as soon as possible,” the staff noted.
More to follow in the coming days about the upheaval unfolding side UIA
