Attorney General tells MPs to back off SGS contract

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Attorney General has cautioned parliament against terminating the contract of SGS-Societe Generale De Surveillance, the company contracted by government in 2015 to carry out mandatory vehicle inspection.

Last year, parliament tasked the Attorney General to look into the possibility of terminating the $125 million contract between the Works Ministry and SGS following recommendations by a minority report of the Physical Infrastructure Committee on grounds of fraud and unethical conduct.

The minority report contracted the main committee report, which recommended the suspension of the contract for three months to allow for review and renegotiation between SGS and the Works Ministry.

However, in his report to parliament, the Deputy Attorney General, Mwesigwa Rukutana, says it will be potentially costly to terminate the contract, saying his office hasn’t found any cause that would legally back the termination of the contract without a breach.

He warns that government would be exposed to colossal damages pursuant to clause 7.8.5 of the agreement which could be in hundreds of millions of dollars should parliament terminate the contract.

He suggests that rather than terminate the contract, government should engage SGS for renegotiations to address the current grievances.

Rukutana explained that SGS can only lose the contract on three grounds including the repeated failure by the company to fulfill its obligations, gives offers or promises of any loan, fee, reward or advantage of any kind to any employee of the Works and Transport Ministry and fraud.

Rukutana said that his office couldn’t get evidence connecting the alleged trips mentioned in the minority report to SGS to qualify them as gratification to the implicated works ministry officials.

The minority report had cited an all-expense paid trip to South Africa by Workshop Electronics from November 7th to 10th 2016 for Ronald Amanyire, a works Ministry official and another trip for a team comprising Immaculate Nyamaizi, Anthony Muwonge and Eng. Fredrick Lukooma Basalirwa.

The report claimed that the trips constituted gratification to the officers for their roles in assisting SGS secure the contract. Rukutana further said that his office cannot find any justification to impute fraud on the part of SGS by employing Engineer Dennis Sabiti who had previously chaired the Ministry of Works and Transport Contracts Committee that contracted SGS.

Sabiti is currently the Rubanda West Member of Parliament. According to the minority report, Sabiti resigned from the ministry and got employed with SGS earning $3,000 per month.

He said the Attorney General’s Chambers didn’t draw all agreements but that officials from the Attorney General’s Chambers may participate in the negotiations and drawing of the agreements.

“But the line ministry’s departments and agencies draw the agreements and subject them to the scrutiny and clearance by the Attorney General whose role is to ensure that they are compliance with the Constitution and don not infringe on any other provisions of the laws of the land,” Rukutana said.

He explained that the policy consideration of any agreement is the mandate of the line ministry and not the Attorney General. “Therefore, once the Attorney General has cleared an agreement, he has charged his mandate and the agreement is valid- so was this agreement between SGS and the Ministry of Works and Transport in our opinion.” he added.

The opinion of the Attorney General drew a heated debate from MPs with some of them including the Budadiri West, MP Nathan Nandala Mafabi, West Budama North MP, Richard Okoth Othieno and the Soroti Municipality MP, Herbet Ariko among others insisting that the contract with SGS be terminated.

“The Attorney General says no you cannot terminate the contract. When we asked him about UMEME contract, he said the same thing; I want to know what the role of the Attorney General is? If Parliament decided not to take your advise on terminating the SGS contract, will Parliament be breaking any laws?” Ariko asked.

Nandala Mafabi insisted that there was a lot of conflict of interest in the matter and therefore they needed to terminate the contract with SGS. “MP Sabiti carried a contract to Rukutana who immediately signed it. To say that there is no conflict of interest is wrong,” Nandala said.

But the Minister of State for Finance, Gabriel Ajedra cautioned MPs that a decision to terminate will have a huge monetary implication on government. The Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah informed MPs deferring the debate on the matter to Thursday.

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