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Shs15 billion payment to Kasango was fraud– Muhakanizi
Ministry of Finance permanent secretary Keith Muhakanizi (left) leaves the Anti-corruption Court yesterday after testifying in the pension scam case. PHOTO BY MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
- The prosecution states that between December 2011 and August 2012 at the Ministry of Public Service headquarters in Kampala, Lwamafa, Obey and Kunsa in connivance with Kasango and Mutegeya on separate occasions, diverted Shs15.4billion of government purporting it to be payment for legal costs in a High Court case of 1998.
- At the previous hearing, the Judiciary public relations officer Elias Omar Kisawuzi also denied certifying the two purported court orders instructing government to pay Shs15.4 billion as claimed costs for legal services in a certain case where pensioners had sued the State for non-payment of their retirement benefits.
KAMPALA- The Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Keith Muhakanizi, yesterday told court that Public Service officials irregularly paid out Shs15.4 billion meant for pensioners without authority.
Mr Muhakanizi was testifying in the Anti-Corruption Court in a case where lawyer, Bob Kasango former permanent secretary of the ministry of Public Service Jimmy Lwamafa and his juniors Christopher Obey (former principal accountant) and Stephen Kiwanuka Kunsa (former director for Research and Development) and a court clerk Milton Mutegeya are accused of theft and conspiracy to steal Shs15.4 billion of government.
Mr Kasango is accused of forging court orders which duped government into paying the said money to his law firm.
Mr Muhakanizi testified that the money had not been provided for in the 2011/12 budget and it was fraudulently paid out by the indicted Public Service officials without his knowledge and authority of the Auditor General as the law requires.
“I have never received any request from the Ministry of Public Service to pay out of budget in the financial year 2011/12. And in the financial year 2012/13, I have no evidence to show that they requested to pay the said amount out of budget,” Muhakanizi testified.
He described the payments as illegal expenditure calculated to frustrate the national budget approved by Parliament.
The prosecution showed him a letter of July 11, 2012, from the Consolidated Fund showing that Lwamafa, Obey and Kunsa withdrew the money. Mr Muhakanizi reiterated that the withdrawal was irregular.
Pleads innocent
“You cannot withdraw money from the Consolidated Fund account without the authority of the Auditor General,” Muhakanizi said.
However, it could not be explained how the Consolidated Fund released the money to the accused without the authority of the Auditor General or Muhakanizi, the Ministry of Finance’s accounting officer, who would ordinarily be the person to sanction such payments outside the budget.
At the previous hearing, the Judiciary public relations officer Elias Omar Kisawuzi also denied certifying the two purported court orders instructing government to pay Shs15.4 billion as claimed costs for legal services in a certain case where pensioners had sued the State for non-payment of their retirement benefits.
Presiding judge Margret Tibulya adjourned the case to November 2, for further hearing.
Particulars of the offence
The prosecution states that between December 2011 and August 2012 at the Ministry of Public Service headquarters in Kampala, Lwamafa, Obey and Kunsa in connivance with Kasango and Mutegeya on separate occasions, diverted Shs15.4billion of government purporting it to be payment for legal costs in a High Court case of 1998.
In this case, pensioners had sued government and won and were to be paid their money.
The prosecution states that instead the money was diverted and fraudulently paid to Kasango’s law firm.
