Top officials at the Ministry of Trade are in trouble after conniving with private law firms to defraud the government of Uganda of over 21 billion shillings meant to compensate co-operative Societies in Eastern Uganda.
This stemmed from the recent exposure by the Internal Security Organization (ISO) contained in a detailed report that was submitted to President Yoweri Museveni, which revealed how officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industries, and Cooperatives had connived with law firms to steal billions of dollars meant to compensate cooperatives for the losses incurred during the liberation war and insurgencies.
In 2015, the Cabinet approved the plan to compensate the cooperatives.
A highly placed intelligence source named the implicated officials as follows: Robert Bariyo Barigye, the Commissioner of Cooperatives Development, who was arrested on September 5th from Rukungiri district where he had been hiding; Mpakibi Waiswa, the Assistant Commissioner of Cooperatives; Kavundira Leonard, the Principal Cooperatives Officer; Magero Henry, Chairman of Jinja Multipurpose Cooperative Society; and Lubanga Ngobi, the Secretary of Jinja Multipurpose Cooperative Society.
The source confirmed that President Museveni ordered the State House Anti-Corruption Unit to arrest the implicated officials after receiving the ISO report.
It’s alleged that Barigye aka Bob, reportedly used law firms to swindle billions of dollars meant to compensate cooperatives for war losses.
In the ISO report, the law firms involved in the big scandal include Matovu and Matovu Advocates, Kirya and Co Advocates, Probata Advocates, Makada and Co Advocates, and some managers from cooperatives that were supposed to receive the compensation.
According to the report, the government, through the Ministry of Trade, released the sum of Ugx 15.07 billion to pay Busoga Growers Cooperative Society, but only Ugx 1.5 billion was paid to the group, implying that over Ugx 9.9 billion was stolen by the officials.
In another scandal, the government released the sum of Ugx6.8 billion to pay Jinja Multipurpose Cooperatives, but only Ugx1.03 billion was paid, implying the officials stole Ugx5.77 billion.
The ISO report further revealed that the government released Ugx6.8 billion to compensate Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society in Bugiri district, but only Ugx490 million was paid, and the officials stole Ugx6.3 billion. This payment was purportedly affected by Probata Advocates and Kirya and Co. Advocates, who paid only Ugx490 million and received it through their DFCU Bank account 01113678444848.
Behind this transaction, the source has revealed that investigations indicate that Leonard Kavundira, principal cooperative officer at the Ministry of Trade, forced Buyaka to sign a Memorandum of Understanding entitling the firm to 30 percent of the money. However, the last nail in the coffin is that the law firm has only remitted Ugx200 million of the total sum.
The source said that on August 7, 2023, ISO and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit launched an investigation into the issue, focusing on Busoga Growers Cooperatives Union Ltd., Jinja Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society, and Namisindwa District-based Buyaka Growers Cooperative Society. Following these investigations, some of the corrupt officials have been arrested, like Barigye Robert, who was arrested from his hideout in Rukungiri.
The source also indicated that more officials would soon be arrested by the investigating units. He also said that measures to deter the suspects from escaping from the country have been put in place.
The source also revealed that this scandal involves some Members of Parliament on the Budget Committee, whom he refrained from mentioning.
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