Mbarara mayor in trouble over Shs190 million

Mr Wilson Tumwine, the Mbarara Municipal Council mayor, survived arrest when the office of the IGG, which  investigated him last year, found him guilty of corruption but asked the council to ‘warn' him.

However, the commission of inquiry into corruption, sitting in Mbarara, on Tuesday directed the Police to investigate Mr Tumwine over fraudulently receiving Shs190 million, purporting to be a contribution towards buying land from the National Forest Authority (NFA).

The directive came after Mr Tumwine, who was on the second day appearing before the commission, admitted to having collected money from the public at his Pelikan Hotel without issuing receipts, tantamounting to fraud.

"This is theft and the advice I give you is to get this money back and refund the people who contributed it," the commission chairman,  Mr Peter Mulira, said.

The commission heard that the mayor invited his friends to contribute money towards the purchase of land in Kiruhura District for replacement of 168 hectares of NFA land the municipality requested for development.

Mr Tumwine told the commission that he used his position as a mayor to collect money using his friends to pass on information to interested parties without following the PPDA laws.
"I passed on the information that we needed money through messages to my friends to pass it on to others to come and contribute,"  Mr Tumwine said.

The first batch of 84 people reportedly collected over  Shs84 million and they were promised that they would be given the first priority once the process of degazetting was finished. They were also asked not to demand for receipts, the commission heard. The total amount collected was Shs190 million.

The money was reportedly handled by his hotel manager, Mr  David Mayanja,  who later took it to the municipal treasurer.

Asked whether the treasury has ever acknowledged receipt of the money, Mr Tumwine said one year after  receiving the money, the council was still in the process of making receipts.

However,  before getting the land from NFA, Mr  Tumwine wrote a letter to the council allocating land to other people who did not contribute to the purchase.
This angered those  who had contributed and they sought redress.
Mr Mulira said Mr Tumwine should be investigated for fraud and prosecuted if found guilty.
He accused the mayor of influence peddling by using his hotel to transact government business.
Mr Tumwine was directed to produce the list of those who paid to the commission at a later date.