Multiple credible sources in the State House have told the Grapevine that two weeks back, there was an emergency meeting chaired by president Yoweri Museveni on how to clean the national tax body Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).
The meeting was attended by David Bahati, the State Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Lt Col Edith Nakalema, the commandant of the state house anti-corruption unit, AIGP Grace Akullo, the Director Criminal Investigation Department of the Uganda police, Chief of Defense Forces Gen. David Muhoozi, Deputy Inspector General of Police Major General Sabiiti Muzeyi and the newly appointed URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi.
A source privy to the details of the meeting disclosed that a furious Museveni told the members in the meeting that he had received intelligence report that there is a lot of corruption among the top URA leadership.
Museveni told the meeting that all corrupt officials must be weeded out and the issue urgently resolved.
Museveni stated that there was a lot of fraud among the top URA honchos with some officials pocketing millions of shillings in bribe every week.
Sources at State House disclosed that before this meeting, Museveni met Musinguzi who reported to him that he is not willing to work with some of the commissioners because they were already proving to be stumbling blocks in his administration, they agreed that all of them be fired.
They also agreed that all the top URA officers be replaced with military men like it was done in Uganda police.
A Furious Museveni said that some top URA managers have been conniving with business men and foreigners to frustrate the country’s taxation system for their personal benefit which is un acceptable.
The source told this website that URA bosses embarrassed Museveni when he recently met Tanzanian president John Magufuli to explain why he was refusing Ugandans to sell their sugar in Tanzania when both countries are members of the East African community.
Museveni disclosed that the soft spoken Magufuli told him that his officials are corrupt, they export sugar from Brazil and other South American countries to Uganda, repack it and rebrand it to show that it’s from Ugandan companies and export it to Tanzania.
Museveni said that Magufuli gave him evidence to prove his allegation of the repacked sugar.
The old man with hat from Rwakitura said that when he told Akol to clean her house, the only thing she did was to transfer some of the implicated officers to different departments but left them within the system.
Akol transferred Hebert Rusoke from CCC to CIAC, Patrick Mukiiibi was transferred from CTI to CCS, Henry Saka was transferred from CDT to CTI, Dickson Kateshumbwa transferred from CCD to CDT, Patience Rubagumya was transferred from CLSBA to CLSBA and Abel Kagumire was transferred from ACCA to Ag CCD.
According to insiders in URA, the changes were supposed to take effect on 1st April 2020.
Museveni was very bitter with the way Akol handled the matter and it was one of the reasons why he fired her and appointed Musinguzi.
The source said that before firing Akol, Museveni’s lawyers advised him to wait for the URA board to carryout interviews to get her replacement and send the name to the Minister of Finance for approval.
Museveni told them that he no longer had trust in the URA system that is why he wanted a replacement quickly especially if the country is to survive the looming COVID19 economic crisis.
Museveni instructed his lawyers and the Attorney General to handle the legal gymnastics while Musinguzi is in office.
Sources inside URA told this website that Musinguzi was not well received at URA head offices because they looked at him as an alien in the system.
Some senior staff expected Akol to be replaced by Kateshumbwa as the new Commissioner General.
Sources revealed that because of the heat and uncertainty at the tax body headquarters, Musinguzi did not use the security which was protecting Akol, instead, his security detail comprises of Special Forces Commanders (SFC) who protect the First Family because the president is aware of the troubles ahead of him.
Musinguzi is very obedient to Museveni because he facilitated his education abroad and helped him when mafias wanted him dead for helping former Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura fight illegal smuggling of goods to Uganda under the Special Revenue Protection Services (SRPS).
Insiders in URA have told this website that early this week, Musinguzi summoned top URA commissioners and directed them to resign because he had orders from the appointing authority to fire them.
State House sources further revealed that Museveni also directed Lt. Col. Nakalema and AIGP Akullo to kick off investigation into the embattled commissioners including their boss Akol.
By the press time, Hebert Rusoke, commissioner Internal Audit and compliance department had been placed under investigations.
However, Kateshumbwa is still insisting that he was not fired but resigned willingly and his contract was still running.
He told Muhereza Kyamutetera of CEO magazine that, “I resigned on my own. My contract was still running.”
By the time of his resignation, Kateshumbwa was the head of World Customs Organization. Akol also congratulated Kateshumbwa for the good work done in the transformation of URA.
URA has not yet come up with an official statement on the resignation of their top official.
