{UAH} Tumwine ordered to pay for gallery

Folks,

M7 ia navigating very dangerous waters. I know of a couple of other war hero, Generals other than Sejusa who have fallen on very hard times and are quietly bitter with their boss. Though now completely toothless are yet to follow suit of their other  senior comrades who have since openly denounced M7's dictatorship.

Gen Tumwine. PHOTO by Faiswal Kasirye 

IN SUMMARY

Finance Permanent Secretary orders Gen Tumwine to pay the arrears accumulated in the more than 15 years his company, Creations Limited, has occupied Nommo Gallery.

KAMPALA

Generals hardly fail but Gen Elly Tumwine is headed to lose the battle against payment of cumulative rent arrears for Nommo Gallery on Nakasero hill, which could be in the region of Shs600m to Shs1 billion. The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Finance and Secretary to the Treasury, Mr Keith Muhakanizi, gave an order on September 11 for Gen Tumwine to pay the arrears that have accrued over about 15 years his company, Creations Limited, has occupied Nommo Gallery.

Mr Muhakanizi was responding to a letter from the chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Uganda National Cultural Centre (UNCC), Dr Mercy Mirembe Ntangaare, on September 6 in which she sought his technical advice on whether they could proceed and recover the rent arrears from Gen Tumwine's company in light of the fact that although it has been operating at Nommo Gallery, there has never been a tenancy agreement between them. UNCC manages Nommo Gallery.

Dr Ntangaare had said in her letter to Mr Muhakanizi that there had been discussions between UNCC board and Creations Ltd and Gen Tumwine accepted to formalise his tenancy. In May, she said, Gen Tumwine was asked to submit a written explanation on how his company came to occupy Nommo Gallery, which would give a basis upon which the UNCC board would make a tenancy agreement with Creations Ltd. Dr Ntangaare says Gen Tumwine, however, did not submit the written explanation as required.

"After waiting in vain for the promised document from Creations Ltd, BOT (Board of Trustees) has drafted an agreement for Creations Ltd effective July 2013. But the issue still remains on whether UNCC can demand rent from the space occupied by Creations Ltd retrospectively," Dr Ntangaare wrote to Mr Muhakanizi.

On September 11, Mr Muhakanizi replied Dr Ntangaare, telling UNCC to proceed and recover the rent arrears from Gen Tumwine's firm from the time it occupied the premises. "The fact that Creations Ltd has been operating in government premises, a Memorandum of Understanding should have been entered into at the time when the company started operating from the premises. You are, therefore, required to collect all the rent arrears which must be served to Creations Ltd in accordance with laws and regulations of Uganda," Mr Muhakanizi wrote to Dr Ntangaare.

Creations Ltd entered Nommo Gallery in 1998. Nommo Gallery became contentious after the former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Pius Bigirimana, now at the Ministry of Gender, carried out an asset audit at his new station and found out that Gen Tumwine had been occupying the gallery, meant for performing artists, for nearly 20 years without paying rent.

Gen Tumwine accused Mr Bigirimana of throwing dirt at him to make him tainted like him who reportedly failed to detect the corruption scandal at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) when he was still the accounting officer. Mr Bigirimana had been accused of failing to detect fraud by the convicted former Principal Accountant at OPM Godfrey Kazinda now serving a five-year sentence for causing loss of billions of shillings.

Gen Tumwine wrote a long article in newspapers describing Mr Bigirimana as a person who had fallen from the "high table" [OPM] to a stool [Gender ministry]. Mr Bigirimana responded saying the General had fallen from the "high table" to the "floor." As the Nommo Gallery saga escalated, sources claim that Gen Tumwine attempted to sweet-talk the UNCC board to bypass Mr Bigirimana with a view to waiving off the debt, but Mr Muhakanizi learnt of the move and has reverted the matter to Mr Bigirimana to handle.

In his letter on September 11, Mr Muhakanizi told Dr Ntangaare that the duty of collecting non-tax revenue is the mandate of the accounting officers of various ministries, departments and agencies of government. Mr Bigrimina is the accounting officer of the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development under which Nommo Gallery falls. "In the case of the Uganda National Cultural Centre, the duty is with the Board of Trustees which is overseen by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development," Mr Muhakanizi wrote to Ms Mirembe.

Sunday Monitor has learnt that the Gender ministry wants to slap a monthly rent charge of Shs3.5m against Gen Tumwine for the property. If it is true, this would translate into Shs630m for the 15 years Creations has occupied Nommo Gallery since 1998.

Previously Nommo Gallery was an extension of the Nakasero State Lodge but the first Milton Obote government allocated it to performing artists. Mr Bigirimana denied knowledge of Mr Muhakanizi's letter when the Sunday Monitor contacted him. However, sources say the Gender ministry has threatened to pass the rent arrears burden to individual members of UNCC board should they discharge Gen Tumwine of the liability to pay the debt.

cobore@ug.nationmedia.com

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