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UWA moves staff after gorilla permits scam
What you need to know:
- The most affected section is the accounts department with 37 staff transferred, including senior wardens for accounts.
The top management team of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has transferred about 100 staff in the latest reshuffle since the multibillion-shilling gorilla permit scandal hit the agency mid-last year.
In the latest transfers, a number of senior staff have been shifted from across the different conservation areas and national parks, UWA senior officials said in a December 29, 2023 statement.
“Top management at its 46th meeting held on 28th and 29th December 2023 at Protea Hotel Entebbe resolved to transfer staff within UWA to the various stations as indicated below with effect from 1st January 2024,” a joint statement signed by the authority’s executive director Sam Mwandha and deputy director for legal and corporate affairs Chemonges Mongea Sabilla states.
“The management meeting further directs the chief wardens to facilitate the transferred staff to their respective new stations,” the statement adds.
The most affected section is the accounts department with 37 staff transferred, including senior wardens for accounts. Also moved to different areas within the department are accounts clerks, who have been moved from one national park to another.
The most senior officer who has been transferred is Edison Nuwamanya, chief warden of Kibaale conservation area, who was recalled to headquarters and re-assigned as manager of human-wildlife conflicts. Replacing him is Mr John Justice Tibesigwa, warden-in-charge at Rwenzori Mountain National Park, who was moved to Kibaale Conservation Area as chief warden.
Six other senior wardens have also been shuffled from one position to another.
Gorilla permit fallout
In some of the high-profile reshuffles, Ruth Namawanda, the senior accountant of Bwindi Conservation Area, where the gorilla permit fraud was detected, has been replaced by Ms Janet Busingye, who was drafted in from the Queen Elizabeth II National Park.
Ms Namawanda’s fate hangs in the balance. It has also emerged that all the accounts clerks of Bwindi Conservation Area have been affected in the shake-up, including the accountant of Mgahinga National Park, Ms Daisy Nanyonjo, who remains undeployed and is still on suspension.
Multiple sources within the authority say disciplinary proceedings are still ongoing against those implicated, and that many may never regain their jobs at the authority. Similarly, Mr Moses Turinawe, who has been tourism warden and acting officer-in-charge at Mgahinga, has been transferred to Ishasha sector of the Queen Elizabeth National Park.
However, Mr Nelson Guma, the chief warden at Bwindi-Mgahinga, said the most affected section is the accounts department with 37 staff transferred, including senior wardens for accounts.
Conservation Area, has been retained. In one of the scandals that hit the area, internal sources accused him of mismanaging the $100,000 (Shs376m) donor funds meant to support rangers during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
Investigations into this matter have not been concluded and nothing has been said about Mr Guma’s fate in relation to the donor money inquiry. Mr Bashir Hangi, the public relations manager at UWA, on Monday, said the latest transfers are routine operations and have nothing to do with the gorilla permit scandal.
He said every year, UWA effects the transfer of staff to enhance efficiency and good performance and that no staff at the authority is hired to work at a specific duty station for life.
“Transfers are a routine administrative action that we do every year. In UWA, staff are not hired to work at specific duty stations, we are all transferable. The transfers have nothing to do with the permit investigations. The transfers affected staff in different departments. Staff who are undergoing investigations could not be deployed for work until their cases are concluded,” he said.
Mr Hangi also said while he is not privy to the status of investigations by the police and the Auditor General, the authority’s internal inquiries are almost complete.
“Get in touch with the police. Our internal investigations and disciplinary processes are nearing conclusion,” he told this publication.
Stalled investigations?
Our sources have also revealed that both investigations at the police Criminal Investigations Directorate and the forensic audit by Auditor General ordered by the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Col (rtd) Tom Butime have stalled for unknown reasons. At police CID headquarters, late last year, there were unsubstantiated allegations that some files were reportedly stolen by unknown people, raising fears that someone probably deliberately wants to frustrate the inquiry. However, police swiftly denied the claims of missing files. In a response posted on X by Force spokesperson, SCP Fred Enanga, said the allegations were unfounded.
“It is untrue that any file on the gorilla permit case is missing at the police. Instead, an investigation is underway. Our teams from the KMP East Policing region have been actively collaborating with the UWA security team to probe the matter. Given the significance of the case, the @ODPPUGANDA has instructed @CID1_UG to take up the matter for an expeditious prosecution-led investigation,” SCP Enanga’s statement said.
On October 5, 2023, Col Butiime had given the Auditor General 30 days within which to carry out a forensic audit into the books of accounts at UWA since 2020 and submit a report to his office. While the report was supposed to be submitted by November 6, 2023, this had not been done by press time. Daily Monitor’s repeated attempts to get an explanation about the delay were futile as Auditor General John Muwanga did not respond to our calls.
Dr Maxwell Poul Ogentho, the director of technical services in the office of the Auditor General promised in November to provide an update but by the end of December, had not done so despite several reminders. Insiders at UWA and at the AG’s office, speaking on condition of anonymity, at the weekend said the forensic investigations had not yet kicked off. Also, some staff at UWA who say they have been at the forefront of attempting to expose corruption at the authority say they are now frustrated and plan to petition the President.
“We are frustrated by the inability of government agencies to handle this matter. The Auditor General up to now has not started the forensic audit... We are taking this issue to the President,” a source said.
At the Auditor General’s office, one source “I still want my job and the question you are asking is above my pay grade. Kindly speak to Auditor General Muwanga and let him explain to you the delays and why,” the source said.
Officials from the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities also did not respond to repeated inquiries. Col Butime and Martin Mugarra, the State Minister for Tourism, could not be reached for comment by press time.
THE PERMIT SCANDAL
The gorilla permit corruption scandal shocked the conservation world after it was discovered that billions of shillings were siphoned out by a syndicated fraud involving several people, among them UWA Bwindi Conservation Area field and headquarter staff, and tour operators.
An inquiry into the scandal saw heads rolling with a number of staff at the authority suspended, while others were arrested and later released on police bond. At least four people, including Gad Ekochu from reservation; Gilbert Mwesigwa from ICT, Shafiq Tumwebaze and Issa Muyinda were detained at the time. Also, an internal UWA audit carried out between June and August 2023 recommended the blacklisting of a number of tour operators that were implicated in colluding with staff to defraud the authority.
The audit carried out at both Mgahinga and Bwindi national parks saw tour operators recycling gorilla tracking permits and in some cases forging accompanying receipts with the help of UWA staff. The same report faulted the reservation department for overbooking, leading to noncompliance with gorilla tracking regulations; conniving with tour operators to defraud the authority and outright theft of authority money.
With Uganda Wildlife Authority being one of the very few government entities that are allowed to spend their revenue at source, the loss of billions of shillings to fraud is suspected to have significantly affected operations and other conservation development plans.