Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kahamba Kuteesa has admitted involvement in the procurement and hire of BMW vehicles at a cost of Ushs.9.4 billion shillings for use during the Commonwealth heads of state and government meeting (Chogm) Kampala 2007. He, however, denies any wrong doing.
“At no time did I influence the decision to purchase or lease. The final decision to lease was made during a meeting presided over by the President,†he told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
PAC is investigating how the CHOGM Cabinet Sub-committee managed the budget for the event amidst allegations of corruption.
Kuteesa who appeared before the committee on the morning of March 16 is the first of eight Ministers expected to appear before PAC.
He said that the decision to lease the cars was made during a Feb.12, 2007 meeting at State House Nakasero where President Yoweri Museveni opposed the purchase of cars on grounds that about 100 cars bought in the run up to the 1987 Preferential Trade Area submit held in Kampala could not be traced.
The president, he said, also had reservations about the cost of maintaining the BMW vehicles.
The Minister also denied allegations of conflict of interest and influence peddling in the award of the tender to Euro Car, the firm which supplied the cars that were leased.
He said that Euro Car was incorporated in April 2005 with his family campany, SECI obtaining 20 percent shares. Other shareholders, he said, were Albert Gataare with 30 percent shares, Eugene Nyagahene with 20 percent shares and Robert Kabonero with 30 percent shares.
He said that he surrendered SECI’s interests in the firm and sold his shares to Robert Kabonero on August 09, 2005 long before Uganda was confirmed as venue for Chogm.
“Procurement of the vehicles was done in 2007. I’ve been seeing innuendos suggesting that I pulled out of the company in order to benefit but I had ceased being a shareholder more than two years before Chogm. I should have been a magician to know that Uganda would be the venue,†he said.
Uganda was confirmed as the venue for the meeting in November 2005, during a commonwealth meeting held in Malta.
BY ISAAC MUFUMBA
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