Report on Kutesa bribery claims to be released in January 2019
The Attorney General, William Byaruhanga has said he will release the report on findings on claims of bribery to Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa in January.
President Museveni on Monday said he had heard of the bribery allegations and had instructed the Attorney General to investigate Kutesa in regard the allegations.
On Tuesday, Members of Parliament put the Attorney General to task to explain the stage at which the investigations have reached and when the report would be released.
The Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga asked the Attorney General to respond to the concerns by MPs.
“I am going to inquire into the matter and at the end of the inquiry, parliament shall be made aware of the findings of these investigations,” Attorney General, William Byaruhanga said.
However, legislators demanded to know the timeline through which the report would be released to the August House.
“Now that a conviction has been entered against the person who gave him the bribe, can we now as parliament go by rules and the minister (Kutesa) steps aside,” Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo asked.
Byaruhanga said there would be thorough investigations into the alleged bribery claims and before the end of January, a report will be out.
A court in the US , last week convicted former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping after being found guilty by a federal jury in New York of offering millions of dollars in bribes to African officials including Sam Kutesa to gain business favours.
Speaking about the claims, President Museveni said he had been informed by Kutesa that the money was meant for charity.
According to prosecution, evidence gathered by FBI indicated that Ho sent the money from Hong Kong to a bank account in the US before it was wired onto an account in Stanbic Bank in Uganda.
Ho, 69, was Hong Kong’s Home Affairs minister from 2002 to 2007 before becoming the deputy secretary general of a think tank that was financed by Chinese conglomerate, CEFC China Energy.
He was convicted by the New York Southern District Court jury on seven of eight counts of bribery and money laundering over oil rights for CEFC in Chad and Uganda and he now awaits sentence.
