The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
KAMPALA, UGANDA | THE INDEPENDENT | A staff member at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is citing political intrigue and personal vendetta as responsible for his delayed – or revoked deployment.
Dhakaba Mohammed Kirunda was last deployed as Financial Attaché at the Ugandan Embassy in Algiers, Algeria in 2022. He was recalled to Kampala over administrative and abuse of office investigations.
He thought his ordeal had ended when, in September last year he was notified of his posting to Copenhagen, Denmark, but the deployment was never to be, to date.
What is bothering Dhakaba is why the Permanent Secretary, Vincent Waiswa Bagiire, posted and notified him of his new duty station and in less than a month, the same accounting officer informed him of the deferment of the deployment.
Dhakaba says he has also not been receiving his due remuneration over the period, while until now, there is no Financial Attaché at the Embassy.
The events
In early 2022, Dhakaba was posted and deployed in Algiers and he commenced his duties, but this was shortlived and, about six months later, he was recalled to Kampala.
This followed complaints filed by the Head of Mission in Algeria including sexual behaviour and flouting finance management procedures.
“Several allegations were made against you, including sexual harassment of Ugandan female students who are on scholarships in Algeria, flouting of bank regulations, disrespect of Head of Mission and Mission staff, to mention but a few,” said a letter by PS Bagiire recalling the Attaché on December 14, 2022.
The letter stated that the recall was aimed at paving the way “for proper investigations.”
Shortly after returning to Kampala, he was deployed in the finance department at Jinja referral hospital, but says he was not facilitated.
“Imagine, I was not given any allowance, I was not given an office. I was sitting under a tree. Worst of all, of all the time I was there, almost a year, I was never assigned any work, not even given a cash book to go through!”
He then petitioned the Inspectorate of Government, State House Anti-Corruption Unit and the court. On “unfair recall from Algiers” court ruled in favour of the Ministry because he was being transferred to Jinja Referral Hospital following the right procedure.
However, the accusations of abuse of office while in Algiers alleged by Ambassador Alintuma Nsambu were “found baseless”, according to him.
He says that this is when the ministry on September 11, 2024, decided to post him to Denmark effective October 1 until October 2027.
To facilitate his deployment, the ministry wrote to the Royal Danish Embassy in Kampala to fast-track his visa processing. Dhakaba was due to replace Margaret Obace.
However, the issuance of the Visa was never effected and, on enquiring, he was told that his deployment had been reversed by the ministry.
“Reference is made to my letter of even reference dated 11th September 2024, posting to the Uganda Embassy in Copenhagen as a Financial Attachė. This is to inform you that a decision has been taken to defer your posting to a later date,” wrote the PS without further explanation.
In the meetings that followed between Dhakaba and Bagiire and with other ministry officials, he was informed that the Head of the Ugandan Mission in Denmark, Margaret M. Otteskov, was the one who had directed Uganda not to deploy Dhakaba there.
“I wish to alert you that the ambassador has no mandate and it is not in her domain to choose a financial attache to handle public funds under the vote. This is impunity which is a form of corruption and should be distinguished from immunity which they are supposed to enjoy,” he wrote in protest to the PS.
He advised the PS to consult the Attorney General on the n procedure, arguing that his deployment was supposed to be a correction of the illegal recall from Algiers after the allegations by the ministry had been dismissed by investigations.
He has since appealed the court ruling over his recall from Algiers and deployment as an accountant at Jinja Hospital.
Dhakaba suspects that the alleged witch-hunt by Bagiire is a political move to cripple him out of politics since the two village neighbours from Waitambogwe, Mayuge district both contested for the Bunya County West seat in Parliament in 2011, which Bagiire won.
But, he says, the PS seems to have a personal vendetta against him because, despite informing him officially when he recently lost his son in an accident which left other family members maimed, “Bagiire never even sent a word of condolences.”
“Imagine all this coming when I have had no salary for a year now because he told officials at the Finance Ministry not to release my salary!” he says.
When contacted, PS Bagiire told URN that he could not make any comment as “the matter is in court.”
*****
URN
