True to his name, ‘PROBLEMS’ court Mr ‘Bizibu’ George William.
A select committee by the Commission, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) probing circumstances under which properties of Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (DAPCB) were compensated, has undressed Mr Bizibu, and left him naked.
Members of Parliament on the select committee led by Makindye east MP Ibrahim Kasozi, have been questioning to the “Executive Secretary” of the board, not knowing that they were dealing with a masquerader because he was not formally appointed.
“Mr Bizibu is in office illegally,” one of the MPs told the committee on Thursday. “We need the Finance Minister to explain this anomaly”.
Mr. Bizibu has failed to satisfy MPs on a number of audit queries at the organization, which forced MPs to dig deeper and failed to trace Mr Bizibu’s formal appointment.
Mr Bizibu, a close associate of the Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija, started working as “executive secretary of the board” about two years ago. Mr Bizibu and Mr Kasaija hail from the same home area of Buyanja County in Kibaale district, and Bizibu has been Kasaija’s campaign agent before.
Cosase is interested in finding out the people who claimed money from the DAPCB prior to repossession of properties by owners who lost their properties in the 1970s when Idi Amin expelled Asians from Uganda.
MPs want the Custodian Board to publish a list of the beneficiaries to confirm whether they did not pay ghost claimants.
While appearing before COSASE last week, Mr Bizibu, admitted the accountability queries when questioned by MPs. During the interface with the MPs, Mr Bizibu who has been at the helm of the DAPCB for about two years, said the board does not have information on the current ownership of several plots despite the records indicating that they were compensated by the government.
However, the MPs accused Mr Bizibu of trying to trying to cover up senior government officials accused of grabbing the Asian properties.
The composition of the board has become a matter of public scrutiny. The Board members include Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, Lands Minister Betty Amongi, Attorney General William Byaruhanga, State Minister for Local Government Jenifer Namuyangu, State Minister for Industry and Cooperatives, Mr Michael Werikhe, Gen Salim Saleh who is a “co-opted member”.
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