His successor is accused of swindling Shs 2bn; Museveni intervenes
If you thought the sacking of former National Forestry Authority (NFA) executive director, Damian Akankwasa, for causing a Shs 2.8 billion financial loss to the organisation cured it of corruption, think again.
Akankwasa’s successor, Hudson Andrua, who was suspended recently, is being accused of causing a financial loss of Shs 2 billion in dubious deals similar to those of Akankwasa. The plot becomes murkier because the group that pushed out Andrua is fighting for the top job and the intrigue has sacked in the line Minister of Water and Environment, Maria Mutagamba, the Inspector General of Government, Raphael Baku, and President Yoweri Museveni.
An insider at NFA told The Independent that board members and the top managers are locked in a fight over the right to award licenses to business people to “cut” forest resources. As donors worry over losing their investment in the intrigue-ridden NFA, Norway has asked the authority to return the Shs 4.2 billion that was not used in forestry related activities in northern Uganda.
Sources at NFA say that although Andrua and associates have weaknesses, their trouble began as soon as he was appointed to act as the executive director in September 2009 following the dismissal of Damian Akankwasa, a man who was keeping Shs 900 million in his bedroom until he claimed it was stolen by his wife.
According to sources some members of the board and top managers were opposed to his appointment and began fighting him internally. “They began digging his track record since he became director of natural forests looking for incriminating evidence. Each one they would land on, they would rush it to the IGG and police for investigations,” says a worker at NFA. When the position of substantive executive director was advertised in January, Andrua was one of the applicants. Efforts to fail him intensified including alleging to President Museveni that he had met with opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) leader, Kizza Besigye twice, which was later found to be false.
In May when State House was expected to release the final name of the substantive executive director at NFA, the Minister of Water and Environment, Maria Mutagamba, moved fast to “sack” Andrua, after learning that the three names that had been submitted for vetting had been disapproved.
Mutagamba appointed Gershom Onyango, a Director of Environment at her ministry to be executive director in acting capacity for three months starting June. Andrua was away on two months leave. However, Onyango has been holding office without signatory powers as the board failed to convene a meeting that would transfer those powers from Andrua.
Top officials arrested
Earlier, when he was barely two weeks in office, Onyango was shocked with the arrest of board members and senior managers at NFA. Those arrested on June 13 included Andrua, the immediate ex- Acting Executive Director, Michael Angol, a Board Member, and Peter Ngobi, the Manager for Legal Affairs.
The arrests were ordered by the IGG, Raphael Baku who told The Independent that his office is investigating a number of issues at NFA. He refused to divulge details. It has been reported, however, that the officials are accused of complicity in the sale of Namanve Forest Reserve, a patchwork of planted woodlots on the outskirts of Kampala city.
The arrest was triggered by the sacking of the senior principal accountant and ignoring complaints of a member of the board about irregular award of tenders to exploit forests, The Independent has learnt.
Sources at NFA say 200 acres of the Namanve Central Forest Reserve was irregularly leased in a public private partnership between NFA and Midlands Company to erect an eco-friendly facility within the forest reserve.
Moses Watasa, NFA’s spokesman, said the facility would include accommodation, lodging, recreation, and bars. “NFA has similar facilities in Mpanga, Budongo, Kalinzu, Busitema and Mabira forest reserves. These facilities are one of the revenue generating lines for NFA,” he said. The lease was to be a 49-year concession, generating revenue of Shs 800 million annually from ground-rates, for NFA. It is not clear why the lease triggered the arrests.
But Ponsiano Besesa, a member of the NFA board had earlier on March 16 written to the then acting executive director, Hudson Andrua, questioning the criteria he was using in licensing private lumbers in public forests.
Besesa asked Andrua to stay the sale of Mafuga and Rwoho forest reserves pending revision of the harvesting conditions by the board. On Feb. 22 Andrua had written to M/S E. Kasigaire awarding them a license to harvest Rwoho forest.
Without heeding Besesa’s advice, Andrua went ahead on March 21 to write to two more companies, M/S Katas Agencies and BATM Enterprises, awarding them licenses to harvest Rwoho and Mafuga forests without the board’s revising the harvesting conditions as agreed earlier on.
NFA’s forest harvesting conditions are meant to ensure transparency, optimal revenue generation and be consistent with the forest management plans of the reserves in question. The conditions are meant to guard against harvesting young trees, over-harvesting and damage to forest infrastructure. The conditions should also ensure sustainability, so that future supplies of forest produce are not threatened by current harvesting practices.
Timber licenses for sale
But NFA officials have turned the timber harvesting licenses into a vehicle of corruption in which they award forests for kickbacks. Sometimes the business people who win the awards pay less than the market value and pass the balance to NFA officials or harvest bigger areas of forest than shown in the agreements.
NFA bosses have, since 2003 when it was formed, faced accusations of corruption. The most famous case is that of its former executive director, Damian Akankwasa, who is being sued for allegedly causing a financial loss of Shs 2.8 billion. His case erupted when Akankwasa accused his wife of stealing Shs 900 million he had in the bedroom of their home in 2009.
The IGG recommended his sacking and prosecution for abuse of office, failure to declare all his wealth, and causing a financial loss of over sh2.8b to NFA through suspicious deals.
Akankwasa allegedly awarded M/S Nile Plywood a tender to harvest timber in Katugo Central Forest Reserve at Shs 62,500 per cubic metre, instead of Shs 82,500 per cubic metre leading to a loss to NFA of Shs 2 billion.
Akankwasa is also accused of awarding a contract to M/S Woodco to cut 100,000 eucalyptus trees at Shs 10,000 each instead of Shs 20,000 and giving away Nakawa Forest Reserve to Viro Holdings.
In Andrua’s case, Besesa said he had received complaints from some of the forest buyers about the criteria Andrua was using to sell the trees in the two forest reserves.
“I advise you to suspend the selling and present the matter to the board first,” Besesa said in his letter that Andrua allegedly ignored.
The IGG is now investigating the sale of these particular forests where it is alleged Shs 2 billion was lost for Mafuga forest alone. Andrua is also accused of flouting the Public Procure and Divestiture of Assets (PPDA) rules.
Andrua’s troubles at NFA appear to have been compounded when he suspended Senior Principal Accountant Florence Katushabe whom he accuses of leaking the company’s confidential information to unauthorised offices and persons.
“These documents have been and are being used to spread false statements concerning superintendents and employees of NFA and are promoting ill repute to NFA,” said Andrua in an April 29 sacking letter to Katushabe. “Management has decided to investigate your unauthorised disclosure of confidential NFA information. To pave way for investigations, you are hereby suspended from the office of Senior Principal Accountant…” Katusahabe was given one hour to hand over office.
But Katushabe, who denies the accusations and calls her suspension unfair, petitioned President Museveni and was given attention as indicated in a letter signed by Joy Kabatsi, the State House legal director.
Katushabe said Andrua sacked her because she refused to approve his irregular financial requests.
Among other duties the accountant was supposed to approve and verify payments that NFA would make. “Indeed some irregular things notably corruption, in a way of irregular payments, are being done,” reads part of Katusime’s complaint letter to State House, “as a result we have sometimes disagreed on such irregular payments. He (Andrua) became suspicious thinking that I might be releasing some information to the IGG and auditors.”
At the time of Katushabe’s petition, NFA’s name was apparently already on President Museveni’s desk because of numerous complaints about dubious forest deals in which the government was losing billions of shillings due to collusion between the NFA managers and the timber harvesters. Museveni had in early April, threatened to sack the forestry managers when he said he would soon “restore sanity” at the NFA.
Andrua’s sins
Andrua allegedly awarded the harvesting of Mafuga forest reserve in an irregular manner. There were no public adverts for the offer yet on Feb. 22 the forest was awarded to M/S E. Kasigaire at Shs 304.2 million for harvesting 6,890 pine trees. In the same award letter Andrua awarded license to the same company to harvest 18,789 pine trees from Rwoho Central forest reserve at Shs 684 million.
Although he is officially on leave, Andrua now has to regularly report to the IGG’s office where he is being investigated on a number of NFA transactions, including the Mafuga forest case. He recently told the IGG investigators that he advertised the sale of the forests on radio.
But more intriguing are his conditions for accepting the tender awards. For M/S E. Kasigaire he asked him to pay 20% of the total officer within 2 weeks if he accepted the deal. Yet for other bidders like M/S Katas Agencies he would ask them to pay 100% of the same money if they accepted the same offer. He is accused jointly with the head of procurement at NFA. When reached for a comment Andrua said the matter is under investigations and could not comment. NFA has been without substantive executive director since September 2009 when Akankwasa was sacked. Andrua had been acting executive director for the last 2 years until he was replaced by the elderly Onyango. It is not clear when President Museveni will name a substantive executive director.
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