IGG abusing her office

How Beti Kamya has turned the ombudsman into into a theatre for her ego, nepotism, corruption and vindictiveness

THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I dreamt last week that a decision was made at a very high level to arrest the Inspector General of Government (IGG), Beti Kamya, for abuse of office. President Yoweri Museveni was informed after she had spent a night in Luzira. The decision was dropped, not to protect her but to protect the honor and dignity of the office she occupies. Yet this experimental dream would have paid her in the exact same currency, i.e., arresting, detaining, and prosecuting a public official for doing their job.

Tropical Bank sold a property to a local real estate mogul called Bosco Muwonge. This was after the borrower, Lweza Clays, defaulted. By the time the property was sold, Lweza Clays had lodged a civil suit in the Commercial Court alleging fraud. Tropical Bank had hired a lawyer, Fred Muwema. During the execution of the mortgage, Muwema’s law firm used a stamp duty of a motor vehicle. That was the basis of the fraud suit.

During the court proceedings, the court could not find the mortgaged titles. They had been stolen from the high court to hide evidence. Tropical Bank then wrote to the commissioner of land registration, Baker Mugaino, asking for new titles of the mortgaged property. Mugaino asked the Commercial Court to confirm the loss, which they did. He therefore issued special titles to replace the lost ones. The bank then transferred the titles to Muwonge.

Unknown to Mugaino, there were already two other suits in the Land Division court on the same property. These were between Lweza Clays and other people, each claiming they owned the same property; one having acquired it in 2007 and the other in 2009. Also unknown to Mugaino, the court in the Land Division had issued a permanent injunction forbidding any transaction on the contested property until it cleared the matter. This means that both Tropical Bank (in selling to Muwonge) and Mugaino (in issuing special/replacement titles) were in violation of this court order.

One of the plaintiffs against Lweza Clays sued Mugaino in the high court for contempt of court. Mugaino went to meet two of the judges in the Land Division handling the case and [individually] showed each one of them the court orders. Both judges said they were not aware of the suit in the Commercial Court. Mugaino then went to see a judge in the Commercial Court. The judge said he was not aware of the cases in the Land Division. Mugaino asked the judge if he had ordered the bank to sell the property, and the judge denied it but advised that to resolve this matter efficiently, all three cases should be amalgamated into one in the Commercial Court.

The judge told Mugaino that, given the court injunction, he had committed the offense of contempt of court by issuing special titles. Under law, only a judge can set aside a court order. Mugaino then called the Tropical Bank and briefed them about all these issues. He advised them to write to the Commercial Court requesting the amalgamation of the suits. Meanwhile, Muwonge had gone ahead and demolished the structures on the land, including a mosque. He did this without an eviction order and an order to demolish the mosque from court.

However, when the case came before a judge in the Commercial Court, Tropical Bank did not ask for the amalgamation of the cases. Instead, they defend the demolition. The judge was not happy with this turn of events and closed the file. He said he would let another judge handle the matter since he had been transferred. It is then that Mugaino cancelled the transfer of title to Muwonge in respect of the court order. The title reverted to Lweza Clays pending the conclusion of the three court suits, which were to be amalgamated. The court amalgamated the cases, and the matter is ongoing.

Then Kamya wrote to Mugaino asking him not to cancel Muwonge’s title, claiming she is investigating the matter. Why would the IGG be investigating a matter before court? Her intervention was suspicious because it came at the very time the State House anti-corruption unit had begun investigations on the demolition of the mosque and had issued an arrest warrant for Muwonge. Muwonge is well known to Kamya, but he is also a friend to me. So I called him. He told me that he went to the IGG to complain about his title, which he felt was cancelled illegally. Given that he is known to Kamya, there was a conflict of interest for the IGG in this matter.

Even before Mugaino could reply to her, Kamya interdicted him. Why the hurry? Immediately after that, she sent a search team to his office looking for anything of interest. Mugaino then sued both the IGG and the Attorney General (AG) for wrongful interdiction. Court asked the IGG if there had been any investigation that led to the interdiction. IGG said they had begun the investigation. The court ruled that this is wrong and ordered that Mugaino be reinstated.

Mugaino served the court order to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Lands, Docus Okalanya, and the IGG. Instead of reinstating him, Okalanya sought the opinion of the Solicitor General. She got a reply from the Attorney General himself saying the interdiction was wrong ab initio. The AG is the final legal advisor to the government. But instead, Okalanya then wrote to Kamya asking what to do. Kamya claimed AG’s advice is sub judice. Instead, she decided to criminally prosecute Mugaino, which would be tantamount to an interdiction, i.e., a reversal of the court order.

I am reliably informed the AG, Kiwanuka Kiryowa, personally called and advised Kamya. He told her that Mugaino was doing his job in cancelling Muwonge’s title—the law gives him that power. Second, he was obeying a court order. Third, since he was appointed by the president, it was prudent she seek his opinion of the appointing authority. Kamya disregarded this advice, which suggests a personal interest in the matter.

Last week, the AG refused to defend the government in the civil case, saying his office had put it in writing advising that the interdiction was illegal. Kamya is using her office to search the entire country to find some criminal liability by Mugaino. As she continues on this perilous journey that is vindictive, my dream may become reality. She may also get arrested and charged for abuse of office, and the investigation would begin after. Why? Because what goes around always comes around.

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amwenda@ugindependent.co.ug