Pension mafia grab extra Shs100 billion

 

Students of Nsambya Hillside High school Nakirebe celebrating after the senior six exams were released. According to the examination board, girls have beaten boys in this year’s exams. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa. 

By ANDREW BAGALA

Posted  Friday, February 22  2013  

The sophisticated masterminds of the pensions scam stole another Shs104 billion in the 2011/12 financial year, police said yesterday.

Detectives investigating the matter say the new figure is separate from the Shs63 billion earlier confirmed stolen by colluding civil servants, bank officials and financial scam artists.

As with the previous uncovered thefts, the money was wired through Cairo International Bank in Kampala. Police say they have uncovered photographs of 1,160 alleged beneficiaries of the money, but many of who are believed to have had their identities stolen in order to facilitate the scam.

Police intend to release the photos of the alleged recipients after failing to contact any of them.
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said the telephone contacts of the suspected pension beneficiaries in the bank accounts list are either out of service or non-existent.

“We are inviting those individuals to CIID headquarters to enable our detectives interview them to ascertain whether they received the actual funds or not,” Ms Nabakooba said yesterday.

“We therefore suspect these could be pictures of innocent persons which were irregularly fixed on the account opening forms in connivance with the bank officials.”

It was not immediately clear how the police will publicise the photographs. This is the second list of suspected beneficiaries of pension funds released by the police since the investigations started last year.

The first list of photographs was in relation to the Shs63 billion that was alleged to Eastern African Community Beneficiaries Association while the second list is linked to Shs104 billion that was paid to retired civil servants in government ministries.

Interdicted permanent secretary in the Public Service ministry Jimmy Lwamafa, principal accountant

Christopher Obey, assistant accountants David Oloka and Steven Lwanga as well as Mr Peter Ssajjabi, the national secretary East Africa Beneficiary Association, are facing corruption related cases in court over payments to suspected ghost pensioners.

Police believe that people’s identities were stolen or made up and used to siphon pensions. Among the photographs released by the police, is one of a regular newspaper contributor, Mr Kavuma-Kaggwa, but is accompanied by the name of Enock Bateeze.

Mr Kavuma, a former civil servant and journalist, said he has not received part of his pension.

abagala@ug.nationmedia.com