The Anti corruption court has today heard that former Vice President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya did not influence the awarding of contracts to Motor Care Uganda Limited.
In his testimony, Charles Muganzi, the permanent secretary ministry of works told court that Bukenya did not influence the evaluation and contract committees for the contract to be awarded.
Bukenya did not also influence Muganzi, the then chief accounting officer in the ministry of works, to write to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority for the Motor Care waiver and never attended the meeting called by the Authority.
Bukenya is accused of conniving with Motorcare Uganda Ltd to cause a financial loss to the government amounting to 9 billion shillings when he awarded a tender to the company without following proper procurement process. Both parties are charged with fraudulent practice.
Muganzi said as the accounting officer, he reported that government lost money as a result of the motor cycle procurement. The loss was in the futile inspection in Germany by the three-man team from the mechanical engineering department led by George William Okurut and Moses Banturaki, a sales executive from Motor Care.
It was revealed to court that Okurut and his team did not see the factory that was manufacturing the vehicles while in Germany yet they had gone to inspect the process.
He added that he started a fresh procurement process after the office of the Inspector General of Police wrote to him on the 5th of February 2007 asking him for only German made BMW so as to blend with what they had in stock.
Justice Paul Mugamba had earlier rejected minutes of a cabinet meeting allegedly chaired by Bukenya that was tendered in by Syndey Asubo for prosecution.
The minutes show that Motor Care was willing to lease and sell 120 BMW 300 series cars, 120 BMW motor cycles for police and 60 Nissan pick ups, single cabin. The document was sealed and stamped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, Bukenya’s lawyers led by MacDusman Kabega objected to it arguing that it did not identify the officer who signed it. Justice Mugamba sustained the objection saying it did not have a proper record.
Court heard that procurement of motor cycles started in April 2006 and ended in June 2007 which was a long process. The delayed approval was caused by the cabinet sub committee headed by Bukenya and Sam Kutesa as vice chairman among other ministers.
Muganzi while being cross examined said that he was told by Okurut that the motor cycles’ origin was not Germany and police was having a problem with maintenance. He added that he had never received any complains regarding the procurement process before April 2011 about Bukenya committing fraudulent acts and abuse of office.
Justice Mugamba also rejected a fourth and last witness, Stanley Nsubuga, a senior principal inspectorate officer in the ministry of works. Nsubuga was the head of the investigations into the motor cycles procured for Chogm. He traveled to Kenya to investigate Masharaki Company Limited, one of the bidders. However, upon reaching Nairobi he failed to interview the witnesses whose statements had been acquired by prosecution as evidence.
Asubo told court that it would take a substantial amount of delay for them to attend the proceedings. But Bukenya’s lawyers objected saying Nsubuga did not interview the witnesses thus rendering him irrelevant to the matter. They also argued that the statements were not sworn on oath and do not meet the legal standards of a foreign document.
Court will rule on the matter on Tuesday next week.
