Reliable sources at Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) have confided that the board has finalized plans to replace Robert Mukiza, the director general, with his deputy, Martin Muhangi.
On Monday, we reported how the UIA board assessment report rated Mukiza’s five years at the helm as poor with a score of just 37 per cent. Matters have not been helped by the fact that Mukiza has not applied for renewal of his contract, which expires later this month.
“Either he did not apply for renewal because he knows his fate is already sealed, or he is relying on powerbrokers to bypass the board mandate and force the renewal of his contract,” says a source within the board.
More details have emerged on how the board came up with the recommendation not to renew Mukiza’s contract. They cited a governance collapse at the entity, a hollowed-out institution as well as the scandalous escalation at the Namanve industrial park works, among others.
Both Dr Robert Kyamanywa, the UIA chairperson and Muhangi were unreachable by press time. Last year, the Inspectorate of Government (IG) investigated corruption at UIA and in the report that was never officially released, deputy IGG Anne Muhairwe is said to have singled out Mukiza to be charged for abuse of office.
However, according to sources close to the matter, Mukiza survived arrest mostly due to his deep connections in the state.
“He marries from the first family and it would have been an embarrassment if he had been arrested,” says the source.
From then on, Mukiza has been working from home for nearly a year. Sources says he does this for fear of arrest. Sources add that the day-to-day running of UIA is done by Muhangi because Mukiza doesn’t step in office.
“It is Muhangi who attends board meetings and Mukiza only steps up once in a while in the evening to work on matters that require him to physically attend such as salary payments,” says the source.
