Bukenya to be charged with CHOGM corruption
By Timothy Nsubuga
30th May 2011:
Left-Right: Indicted Ex VP Bukenya and His Highness the Kabaka
Former Vice President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya has been indicted by the Inspector General of Government [IGG] on allegations of corruption related to the procurement of the executive cars and motorcycles for the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala.
According to the spokesperson of the IGG’s office M/s Munira Ali, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, who was recently dropped from the position of Vice President that he had held in Museveni’s government for a long time, is facing two charges of abuse of office and acting fraudulently.
Grade 1 Magistrate Sarah Langa of the Anti Corruption Court has accordingly issued criminal summons for Prof. Bukenya to appear in Court at 9:00am sharp on June 16th 2011. The IGG’s spokesperson however denied any links to Bukenya’s recent sacking, saying investigations have been ongoing and that Bukenya’s indictment for CHOGM corruption after he was dropped as Vice President is merely a coincidence.
M/s Munira Ali said the IGG’s office had opened seven case files against people it suspected of involvement in corruption during preparations for the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kampala and that investigations into Bukenya’s case have now been completed and that is why he has been issued with criminal summons to face the charges brought against him.
Bukenya is jointly charged with Motorcare [U] Ltd. Motorcare is the company that purported “won” the tender and subsequently supplied the executive BMW vehicles that were used during the 2007 CHOGM summit. The IGG said the multi-billion shilling CHOGM car deal was awarded to Motorcare [U] Ltd because of Prof. Bukenya’s “personal influence” as the then Vice President and Chairman of the CHOGM Cabinet Sub-Cabinet Committee.
Our efforts to get Prof Bukenya’s reaction to the developments were futile. A source close to the now embattled former Vice President who preferred to remain anonymous because he is not authorised to speak on behalf of the former VP however said:
“…A Professor is not a fool. He knew exactly what was going on and what was going to happen to him. That is why he has been expecting a knock on his door from the moment he was dropped. Museveni has definitely sacrificed Bukenya to show the donors that he is serious about fighting corruption. But why hasn’t he also charged his mafias from Western Uganda who were implicated in the CHOGM scandal? I think we Baganda must now ask ourselves that question and prove that we are not the ‘political condoms’ that they said we are”, our source said with unmistakable bitterness.
It is almost a certainty now that Prof. Bukenya will spend some time in a remand prison on 16th June because an application for release on bail pending trial for the crimes he will be charged with can only be heard by the High Court and yet he will be charged in the lower Anti Corruption Court. END. Please login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories and anytime mid-week for our news updates.
