President Museveni has finally broken the silence on the ongoing UTL saga, after a while of seeing ministers and administrators exchange threats and commands on who has the full authority over the failed telco.
In a letter dated 3rd July, addressed to Honourable Kahinda Otafire – the Jutice and Constitutional Affairs minister, Mr Museveni has asked that no action other than what was resolved by the Cabinet should be taken in regards to UTL.
As I have guided on several occasions, given the strategic importance of UTL to the economy, Government has been in the process of identifying a suitable investor/s to partner with to revamp UTL as opposed to divesting it. The above position was also taken by Cabinet.
Therefore no actions contrary to the Cabinet’s position should be taken. Further, Cabinet must always be consulted on any investment or related decisions concerning UTL before they are taken.
Background of the UTL saga
It all started when Investment Minister, Hon. Evlyne Anite, told members of Parliament that the government no longer had any control of UTL Operations. She further informed the MPs that the government no longer has access to the company premises and thus can’t do any audits or understand how this company is currently run.
The company administrators, led by Bemanya Twebaze, would deny all the accusations that the minister made insisting that they never refused any government official from accessing UTL premises nor did they denythem them the right to audit the company as was alleged.
Ms Anite quickly responded with a directive asking the Attoney General’s office to fire Mr Twebaze from the position of administrator of UTL, something that the AG instead blocked citing that “there are no grounds to remove the administrator of UTL from office”.
The back and forth letters that were exchanged proved to be a war of authority which would only be intervened by the President, under whose power all the ministers were appointed.
But, what is Cabinet’s position?
In one of her letters, while assuring the Attorney General’s office that her directive to fire Mr Twebaze must be put to effect, Ms Anite reffered to the matter as a “Presidential directive”.
“I didn’t write [to the Attorney General] a directive but I was communicating a presidential directive, which he declined. I have written to the President and I’m waiting for his response. He’s the appointing authority for all of us. I did not expect justice from that office.”
The President’s letter to Hon. Otafire seems to be the perfect response though it is not as clear as we would expect. However, with Government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo also reported to make comments against the Attorney General’s decision, you can only believe that the right person in this battle is Ms. Anite. We can only wait on what follows.
You can also read about: A brief timeline of Uganda Telecom’s woes
