In January this year, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni appointed Brig Gen Henry Isoke as the new head of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit.
Brig Isoke replaced Col Edith Nakalema, who went for a one-year course at the National Defence College in Buikwe.
While at the helm of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit , Col Nakalema waged a war against corrupt government officials in all ministries and government agencies as well as other corrupt ordinary Ugandans with power and money.
After his appointment, many thought Brig-Gen Isoke may not fit in the shoes of Col Nakalema since she was an aggressive leader who become the voice of the less privileged Ugandans who had been oppressed by the rich and well-connected people.
However, for the two solid months he has been head of State House’s Anti-Corruption Unit Gen Isoke has proved his critics that President Museveni didn’t make any mistake by appointing him to deal with the corrupt.
At the beginning of this month, Mulago National Referral Hospital Executive Director Dr Byarugaba Baterana was arrested by officials from the State House Health Monitoring Unit.
And according to reliable sources, Gen Brig Isoke is the one who ordered the arrest of Baterana after receiving an implicating intel against the hospital boss.
Dr Baterana was picked by officials and plain-clothed police officers led by the unit Director Warren Namara. He is being accused of corruption, and misuse of office among other charges.
For years,the management of Mulago Hospital has been in the limelight of corruption tendencies, theft of drugs and worst of all, it’s has allegedly been the centre of human organs trade such as heart, kidneys and others.
An officer from within the SHACU noted that many reports came to the desk of Brig-Gen Isoke showing how dubious deals amounting to millions of monies are being carried out within the country’s biggest National hospital and Baterana was reluctant to act either because he was part of the criminal clique or he was too blind to see what was happening.
However, an exclusive report from the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health Dr Diana Atwine to SHACU was the last evidence that prompted Brig Isoke’s move to order the arrest Dr BB, a move that also paved way for his replacement by Dr Rosemary Byanyima. Currently, Dr Baterana is under investigation.
Another big win for Gen Isoke is when his Unit sought justice for a 60-year-old Nakabugo Robinah in dubious land deal after 6 years of being tossed by corrupt police officers. Having failed to get help from different government offices and Police she reported her case to the SH-ACU a month ago, but barely 30 days later, she had been paid her balance of sh. 4.5m from a land transaction that went bad in 2015.
According to Nakaweesa Florence the daughter of Nakabugo, she reported to the unit that her mother had sold 10 acres of land on Block 127, plot 79 in Bugerere-Nazigo, Kayunga district to Ssali Badiru at sh.12 million and she gave a down payment of Shs7.5 million and they agreed to handover the land title to Ssali on completion of the balance. Unfortunately, before he completed his debt obligation, Ssali sold off 2 acres of the land to Bakayimbudde Waswa and other two ladies who forcefully obtained the land title from Nakabugo and her National ID using intimidations.
Using a corrupt lawyer in town Kabugo Suleiman, the three forged a land transfer form with Nakabugo’s fabricated signature extracted from her National ID and transferred the subject land to one of the lady’s names and another third party and the land was further subdivided into plots alleged for future sale. However, when SHACU received the old lady’s complaint, they expedited the coordination to arrest the suspects who appealed for an amicable resolution that yielded the payment of Nakabugo’s due balance of sh. 4.5 million.
Last month also, the same Unit under Gen Isoke arrested Benington Okello, a Dark Room attendant at Arua Regional Referral Hospital for stealing X-ray equipment. According to the prosecution, on December 11, 2021, Okello stole components of the Digital X-ray Machine for screening TB including an HP Laptop with its Canon Software and Samsung Galaxy Tab A Phone from the main store of Arua Regional Referral Hospital which he got access to by virtue of his office.
Later Okello mortgaged the assets to Furah Link Ventures Financial Limited to acquire a loan of 1.2 Million Shillings. The hospital filed a complaint to SHACU and the detectives attached to the Unit arrested him together with Alex Okello, and Benard Olul who are all storekeepers at the hospital.
Currently, Benington Okello is on remand and he will come back to court on 11th March 11 2022 as investigations into the matter continue.
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