{UAH} Ex ISO spies go to court for Shs 72bn
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Hundreds of former employees of the intelligence agency ISO accuse their leaders of receiving and pocketing about Shs 10bn they won in compensation.
The part payment was meant for about 1,000 former employees of the Internal Security Organisation. In 2013, the High court ruled in favour of the former spies and awarded them Shs 72bn in retirement benefits.
President Museveni later reached an out-of-court settlement and the claim was reduced to Shs 39bn of which only Shs 10bn has so far been paid. To manage the court process, the retrenched former intelligence operatives had appointed Jeff Lawrence Kiwanuka, Jamal Kitandwe and Bernard Kamugisha to represent their colleagues.
Now, six of the complainants want the High court to stop the trio from representing them. They claim the three fraudulently received part of the Shs 10 billion through a company called UVETISO and pocketed it. According to the six, their leaders have failed to account for the money.
Led by one Joseph Wawomola, the applicants contest the reduction of their retirement benefits from Shs 72 billion to Shs 39 billion. In his affidavit in support of the suit, Wawomola says that years after the High court awarded them Shs 72 billion, they discovered that their leaders, in connivance with Matovu and Company Advocates, and the attorney general, had entered a consent order reducing the sum.
They contest the consent order, arguing that it was irregular and unlawful in as far as it purported to nullify or vary the terms of the original award. They say that their leaders, again without their consent, executed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government.
In the MOU, it was agreed that government would pay Shs 10 billion in the financial year 2013/2014. The remaining Shs 29 billion, according to the MOU, was to be paid in two instalments in the financial years 2015/2016 and 2017/2018.
Intriguingly, Wawomola says in his affidavit, that in the MOU, the complainants' representatives agreed with the government that the money would be put on Crane bank account number 0145034204600 belonging to UVETISO Limited.
"The said UVETISO Limited is not a former employee of ISO, a claimant or beneficiary of the terminal benefits awarded, nor is it a party to civil suit number 164 of 2004 and, therefore, its inclusion as a recipient of the sum was fraudulent," the applicants say.
Through Muwema and Company Advocates, their argument is that the MOU could not legally substitute or vary the High court order which awarded them Shs 72 billion.
"Nevertheless, the fourth respondent (Attorney General) went ahead and paid Shs 10,000,000,000 into the account of the said company [ UVETISO Limited] which account was and is owned and controlled by Kiwanuka, Kitandwe and Kamugisha," Wawomola says.
Wawomola adds that when they asked the trio to account for the Shs 10 billion, they claimed to have spent Shs 7 billion in costs and expenses, and the remaining Shs 3 billion on some beneficiaries as part payment.
"That from the above, it is clear that Kiwanuka, Kitandwe and Kamugisha misused or diverted the money for other purposes," Wawomola claims.
"That Kiwanuka, Kitandwe and Kamugisha are intent on receiving more money from the fourth respondent [Attorney General] but they can no longer be trusted to act in the interest of the beneficiaries."
Wawomola says he and other beneficiaries have reported Kiwanuka, Kitandwe and Kamugisha to the Special Investigations Division (SID) and the case is registered as GEF/56/2016.
IGG REPORT
In December 2014, the government ombudsman, Irene Mulyagonja, in her report blamed the former Attorney General Peter Nyombi for "misadvising" himself and the government on the MOU with the retired spies.
Mulyagonja said due to Nyombi's "ill-advice", only 117 of the 1,078 legitimate beneficiaries received some payment of about Shs 300m out of the first batch of Shs 10 billion.
According to Mulyangonja, a group of "well- stationed" officials in government, state attorneys and others took advantage of UVETISO and pocketed most of the money, which was wired to an account in Crane bank.
"Not all former employees of ISO entitled to terminal benefits were aware of the formation of UVETISO association, neither were all of them members of the association, and not all former ISO employees authorised UVETISO to receive terminal benefits from government on their behalf," Mulyagonja said.
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