By KT Reporter
Kabale High Court has fixed July 10, as the date to start hearing a petition in which Mercy Atuhaire ,the Kabale district senior procurement officer protesting her interdiction.
In a letter dated June 18 and signed by John Asiimwe, Kabale District Chief Administrative Officer, Atuhaire was interdicted for being an accomplice to other officers at the district under investigations over illegal procurement and implementation of ghost water projects for financial years 2022/2023.
In the interdiction letter, Atuhaire is directed not to leave the country without permission from the responsible officer, not frequent office premises without authority and she is only entitled to half of basic salary monthly.
But, Atuhaire petitioned court.through her lawyers ADIL Advocates & Solicitors. She wants court to halt the interdiction and declares it irregular, illegal and irrational.
According to Atuheire’s affidavits, after Kabale district local government received 1.481 billion Shillings from the Ministry of Water and Environment in collaboration with Ministry of Agriculture Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (MAIIF), Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UMA) with support from Green Climate Funds(GCF) and United National Development Fund(UNDP) , to be given to farmers who willingly vacated wetlands, she was in January 2025 approached by Asiimwe with an opinion that the procurement be handled through a closed bidding which was clearly against by the terms of the fund.
Atuhaire says that her advice that the closed procurement is illegal was not considered. Recordings of the conversation between Asiimwe and Atuhaire are also listed in the affidavit. Atuhaire says she was surprised when on February 12, 2025 received a written communication from Asiimwe redistributing her duties to the procurement officer Alex Turinawe and illegally blocking her from accessing the Integrated Financial management System (IFMS) which rendered her with no duty at the district up to date.
Atuhaire also says she was surprised when on June 23, she was summoned on orders of Asiimwe to record a statement at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Kigezi region police headquarters to take a statement.
A reliable source at Kabale district has revealed to our reporter that Asiimwe has been transferred to a yet to be known district.
In April, Uganda Radio Network exposed how Asiimwe was recorded saying that direct procurement will help them get some balance to their pockets. Atuhaire was however not convinced with Asiimwe’s move saying it will cause a cold welcome by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA)-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
