Police, State House Anti-Corruption Unit Summon Fort Portal Senior Procurement Officer Over Irregular Allocation of Lockups

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations and State House Anti-Corruption Unit has summoned Christine Kanda, the Senior Procurement Officer of Fort Portal city to help guide the ongoing investigations into the irregular allocation of lockups in the city by the executive and a section of technocrats in 2017/2022.

In an August 17th, 2022 letter to the Fort Portal City Clerk, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, says that in a bid to conduct meaningful investigations they need to be furnished with information regarding documents of the procurement process, letters of offer, a list of beneficiaries, approved minutes that were based on to allocate lockups for the physical planning committee number FPMC/PPC/05/10/2017, the council minutes which determined the current rent to be paid and proof of payment of receipts of rent from 2017 to date.

“In addition, we request the persons who chaired the physical planning committee and the executive committee and the senior procurement officer to report to the statehouse anti-corruption unit on 4th floor parliamentary avenue on 22nd of august 2022 at 10am to guide the investigations,” the letter adds.

The investigations are connected to the thirteen lockups at Mugunu built by the Fort Portal Municipality and commissioned in 2019 sparking controversy between Mayor Rev Willy Kintu Muhanga and a section of councilors. The councilors accused the mayor of influencing the allocation of the lockups irregularly.

Although the lockups were nonfunctional, the councilors claimed that they had ended up in the hands of some relatives and close friends of the members of the municipal executive and a section of technocrats. The lockups were part of the Shillings 13billion project funded under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development – USMID.

The other infrastructural developments that were under the USMID project include the solar-powered street lights, at Nyakana Road, the Mugunu Lorry Park and Rukiidi III road. Moses Otimong, the Fort portal city Town Clerk told Uganda radio Network in a phone interview that although he was not in office when the procurement of the premises was made, he has already informed all the implicated persons to avail the necessary information to his office and prepare to cooperate with the investigating agencies.
URA