Kutesa’s dodgy deals

The alleged bribe-giver is Dr. Patrick Ho Chi-Ping, the Deputy Chairman and Secretary of the accused NGO; the China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC). He is a former Foreign Minister of Hong Kong.

The CEFC Chairman is Ye Jianming, the powerful Chairman and Executive Director of CEFC China Energy Company Ltd, which is the parent company of CEFC and one of the 250 richest companies in the world.

Ye Jianming founded the CEFC and nurtured it into a think tank with consultative status with the UN. That is how Kutesa met Ho. The CEFC patronises former heads of states and hundreds of political leaders as its advisers and researchers. Kutesa, while he was President of the UN General Assembly, appointed Ye Jianming as “Special Honorary Advisor to the UN” in what is being seen as making a pass to himself as he used the same occasion to solicit the US$500,000 bribe.

No warrant of arrest has been issued for Kutesa in the U.S. possibly because he is mentioned as a recipient of the bribe.

Kutesa accepts soliciting and getting the money. But he denies that the money was a bribe and insisted it was a donation towards his foundation. However, according to the FBI, Kutesa asked the Chinese for the money as a contribution to the election campaign of President Museveni. It remains unclear if indeed he gave Museveni the money as a campaign donation from the Chinese.

In their book, `The politics of Elite Corruption in Africa; Uganda in Comparative African Perspective’, Prof. Roger Tangri of Stanford University, USA, and Andrew Mwenda of The Independent magazine, describe how Museveni solicits foreign money contributions during elections. They name past contributors as former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, the late Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, former Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi, and former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa.

They also point out that, under Uganda law, it is not illegal to seek such foreign contributions. However, the Political Parties and Organisations Act limits the contribution to maximum US$200,000 per year. So if Museveni, through Kutesa, got US$500,000 from the Chinese, it would be illegal.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also issued a statement defending Kutesa. The statement noted that the interaction and engagement Kutesa had with Ho was in fulfillment of his official functions as president of the U.N. General Assembly.

“It is therefore erroneous to insinuate or infer that Hon. Sam Kutesa, from references made to him and CEFC…is linked to the bribery allegations,” a statement said.

Despite the denials, details of the manner in which Kutesa solicited the money are ugly. He allegedly used a fake organisation, forged letter heads, fake emails, addresses, and dates are correct, dragged in the President’s name, and abused his office at the UN and Uganda Foreign Affairs for personal gain.

Details of bribe

The FBI agent who investigated the case writes that: “Based on my review of email, I know, in substance and in part, that in or about February 2016, the Ugandan Foreign Minister (aided by his wife) solicited from defendant Chi Ping Patrick Ho aka “Patrick C.P. Ho”, a bribe which he characterised as a “donation/contribution” for a “foundation” that the Ugandan Foreign Minister wished to launch”.

“In reality,” the FBI notes elsewhere, “this payment was a bribe to obtain business advantages for the Energy Company in its efforts to secure contracts and ventures in Uganda’s financial and energy sectors.”

The document further reveals that Ho also provided the Ugandan Foreign Minister, as well as the President of Uganda, with promises of future benefits, including proposing to partner with both officials’ families in potentially lucrative joint ventures.