State Minister for Investment, Evelyn Anite faced a fiery backlash from lawmakers on October 3, as she struggled to defend her reputation amidst mounting allegations of corruption. During a heated parliamentary session, Anite’s credibility was called into question, particularly regarding her handling of investment-related issues and her alleged involvement in a high-profile scandal involving the Uganda Investments Authority (UIA) and the British government.
Kalungu West legislator Joseph Gonzaga Ssewungu led the charge, labeling the Minister as “the most corrupt government official who must be now languishing in jail.”
Flustered, Minister Evelyn Anite, claimed innocence in her response, passing on the blame and insisting that as the Minister for Investments, she had done whatever it takes in her powers to expose corruption and the corrupt at Uganda Investments Authority (UIA) but her efforts have always been frustrated by people in higher offices with authority who protect the corrupt.
Members of parliament were heard murmuring and whispering among themselves that given Hon Minister’s scandalous behavior, she shouldn’t have the audacity to speak about corruption.
It should be remembered that until this year, Hon Evelyn Anite was still being regarded by a few people as one of the most decent politicians in Uganda. That positive perception however evaporated when the British High Commissioner to Uganda Kate Airey OBE , wrote a protest note to the Minister of Foreign Affairs refuting in strongest terms the claims that had been made by Hon Minister Anite to the UIA Board of Directors in the meeting she personally chaired on 12th June 2024 and her communication minuted that the two ( Hon Minister Anite and UK Ambassador to Uganda HE Kate Airey ) held an in -person meeting where the British High Commissioner purportedly directed her to halt Variarion of price payment( VOP) payment to the contractor and instead divert it to buy land Hon Minister had personal interest in and to force the UIA management that had received Honororia payment to refund refund it immediately and thereafter, resign.
According to reliable sources, Hon minister Anite chose to deliberately fabricate the story about the British High Commissioner to Uganda because she wanted to create a false narrative to hoodwink and intimidate the UIA Board members and its management in addition to her being the minister responsible for overseeing UIA, she also received special powers from the Funder ( British government through the Ambassador)to have full control of the Kampala Industrial and Business Park Development development project being funded by British’s export Credit Agency, United Kingdom Export Finance( UKEF).
Hon Anite’s huge appetite to interfere in the Namanve project was triggered by the fact that there is an urgent need to buy a piece of land for the establishment of Waste Water Treatment Facility as well as the establishment of Small Medium Enterprises ( SME)park for the project. According to the contract terms, it’s the Uganda government is supposed to provide the land for the project.
UIA management had identified a suitable land enough to accommodate the two purposes whose value was Sh 9 billion as per government valuer . However, when the negotiations to acquire that land were underway, Hon Anite called for a meeting in her office on 27th of February 2024 and without any scientific evidence , rejected the proposal to acquire the piece of land the UIA management had selected on grounds that it was bound to cause environmental pollution since it was near people’s communities. Hon minister Anite instead directed that they replace it with another piece of land her close associates had identified that would end up costing the government up to SH40 billions .
The Director General of UIA Robert Mukiza flatly rejected the proposal from the Minister insisting that as an accounting officer, he will not drive the country into that obvious financial loss of 31b . Hon Minister asserted that UIA must buy the land at all costs and Mukiza stood his ground and stubbornly refused a thing, Minister Anite perceived as insurboniation, hence the beginning of conflicts between the two . Minister started plotting ways of firing him at her earliest convenience using any reason at her disposal.
Hon Minister Anite convened a UIA board meeting on 1st of March 2024 where she bullied everyone that UIA must accept to buy the sh 40 billion land her close associates had introduced to her . Under immense pressure, the UIA board grudgingly accepted her request of considering buying it land .
In attempt to appease the UIA management,minister Anite also directed that the Board adopts a resolution of buying two pieces of land ( the one she had interest in as well as that which the UIA management had selected)so that all “interests are catered for ” Again , that proposal was shot down by Mukiza on grounds that the land which the Minister was introducing wasn’t necessary since the cheaper option selected by UIA management was enough.
In the board meeting of 1st March 2024 ,minister ruled that Mukiza has no powers to question her guidance on the land and was therefore directed to negotiate and submit a report on the acquisition of land for the sites to the Board by 29th March 2024 for onward transmission to the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Minister further directed the Board of Directors of UlA to issue a written warning to Mr Mukiza in the event that he does not meet the deadline, according to the board minutes of 1st March 2024 this reporter has seen .
The Minister further directed that the money to buy the land must come from the loan’s contingency fund. Again DG Mukiza and the UIA board reminded Hon Minister that under the Namanve project’s contract between UK and Uganda,there is no provision for buying of land using funds from loan and instead advised her to use her influence as the minister to find that money for that land acquisition from the treasury as it’s the one enshrined in the contract that Uganda government will always be responsible for land provision .
The minister who appeared desperate to close the land deal quickly, reasoned that government money delays as it must be subjected to the budgeting cycle and insisted that the money for lake acquisition must come from the loan since it’s a quicker option . According to the sources ,she promised to “fix” the matter with the British High Commissioner since the two had “a good rapport”.
Hon Evelyn Anite, in a very unprecedented, bold, and scandalous move , personally wrote to the UKEF the Namanve project funder on 5 June 2024 asking them for permission to divert loan money to purchase the land .In the letter , she falsely indicated that due to budgetary constraints, the government of Uganda isn’t able to find the money for the land . According to the sources, that was pure lie and fabrication because the Ministry of Finance hadn’t written to UIA declaring that there is no money for the acquisition of Land for SME and waste water treatment plant for Namanve project.
On 12th June , 2024, Hon Anite called for an urgent UIA Board meeting and told them that she had just concluded a one on one meeting with British High Commissioner to Uganda at her residence who directed that the Variation of Price( VOP) payment that the contractor was demanding that it comes from loan’s contingency Fund be halted and instead the money be diverted to buy the land ( the land she had interest in ).
She also told the UIA Board that the ambassador had directed that the UIA board who received the sh 500m Honoraria payment for additional work they did on the project must refund it in 24 hours and thereafter resign. All those purported directives from British High Commissioner were captured in the board minutes. According to the source, by using the British High Commissioner name, she wanted the Board to believe that the decision to alter the contract by diverting the VOP payment which is contractual to buying of land that isn’t part of the contract didn’t came from her but rather from the funder represented by UK Ambassador to Uganda. She also wanted to use the issue of Honoraria to find ways of getting to Mukiza whom she was desperately trying to have sacked for disobeying her orders on expensive land.
After that meeting, she wrote a damning letter to the board directing them to force the UIA management to refund Honoraria payment within 24 hours. She also leaked it on her social media platforms.
When the drama between the minister and UIA reached the ears of the president, he called them for a meeting at the State House. During the meeting, Mukiza detailed with evidence to the president how all the witch-hunt against UIA by the Minister was caused by his refusal to accept Hon Anite’s pressure to by an expensive piece of land for Namanve project she personally had an interest in . In the meeting, it was also discovered that the Sh 500m Honoraria payment received by UIA staff was legitimate and had been authorized by the minister herself in 2020 . It became clear that minister Anite was using social media platforms which has no room for details to spread disinformation about UIA so that she creates public sympathy as a morally upright person struggling with corrupt mafias at UIA.
Minister Anite who hadn’t expected Mukiza to detail everything to the president, including confidential WhatsApp messages the two had exchanged when they were still friends where Hon Minister was defaming the leading investors in Uganda that including Sheikh Mohammed Marktoum Jum, burst into tears and screamed on top of her voice lamenting that Mukiza is lying which prompted the president to prematurely end the meeting.
Not yet done, Hon Anite on 3rd July 2024 wrote a lengthy letter to Mukiza and copied all the, president and oUIA staff accusing him of lying the president about her. ( Letter attached).
On 27th June 2024, Mukiza responded to Anite’s letter and copied to the president and all UIA staff accusing her of sorts of things notably for lying the UIA Board of Directors that she had met with the UK top envoy when she hadn’t . Mr Mukiza dared Minister Anite to resign if she concocted and fabricated the story of meeting the British High Commissioner. ( Letter attached). Mukiza in his letter , reminded Hon Minister Anite that she had always made it clear on her social media platform that should anyone bring any evidence that pins her for being untruthful, she would immediately resign.
When Mukiza’s letter was picked up by the media, journalists tried to call Hon Anite to confirm or deny if it’s true that she met with the UK Ambassador as she had claimed , remained mute about it . Media houses also called the British High Commissioner to Uganda asking them to confirm or deny if the Ambassador met with Anite.
Hon Minister Anite got shock of her life when on 31st of July 2024 , the British High Commissioner to Uganda wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs strongly refuting claims made by Hon Anite that the two had met to discuss anything on the Namanve project as she had claimed. That letter from the UK top envoy confirmed Mukiza’s suspicions that the minister had indeed forged and lied which is fraud and criminal in nature.
With the pressure mounting and the embarrassment of being caught red-handed and exposing her, Hon Anite abandoned her social media for good weeks and only returned to writing about love and family. She flew to Canada for a long holiday as she waited for the storm generated by her fabricated stories of meeting the UK Ambassador to calm down.
Sources say that Members of Parliament were very shocked to see a scandalous person like Minister Anite who impersonated, lied, and fabricated stories to achieve her selfish agenda looking for public sympathy in the name of fighting corruption on the floor of parliament hence the heckling and booing.
It should also be remembered once someone labeled Hon Minister Anite as corrupt on X previously Twitter, she reminded them that her name ends with “E “and A”( Anite not Anita ) meaning that corruption is synonymous with the latter rather than the former.
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