UGANDA: CORRUPTION TRIAL POSTPONED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KAMPALA 001199 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCRM UG SUBJECT: UGANDA: CORRUPTION TRIAL POSTPONED REF: KAMPALA 909 Classified By: P/E Chief Kathleen FitzGibbon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d ). ¶1. (C) Summary: The Government requested a postponement of the high profile trial of former Ministry of Health officials involving the redirection of funds for immunization to political mobilization campains. The trial, which began on July 16, was delayed because the Government said it was not ready to try the case. The judge granted the postponement and the case will be heard on October 29. The Inspector General of Government (IGG) did not build the type of case that could stand up in court, according to senior government advisers. As a result, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) joined the prosecution team. The defendants claim to have documentary evidence proving that they were authorized to redirect the health funds by Museveni and the Cabinent. They also claim that State House pressure on them was increasing as the trial approached and that none of them were willing to turn against the other. Without this type of admission, the Government's case was weak. In addition, proceeding with the IGG's case under these circumstances could have exposed the Presidency to potentially damaging information about the President's role in authorizing the diversion without a guaranteed victory. The trial has divided Uganda's ruling class, deepened the wedge between the President and First Lady's support camps and heated up succession speculation. End Summary. - - - - - - BACKGROUND - - - - - - ¶2. (C) Former Health Minister Jim Muhwezi, Ministers of State for Health Mike Mukula and Alex Kamugisha, and State House mobilizer Alice Kaboyo were arrested in May and charged with theft of approximately USD 900,000 from the Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunization (GAVI) after the IGG, Faith Mwondha, conducted an investigation at President Museveni's request (reftel). At the center of the storm is Amelia Kyambadde, the President's Private Personal Secretary, who reportedly goaded Museveni into taking action for her own selfish interests. Kyambadde knew that the scandal would implicate Janet Museveni, who was her primary rival at State House, Janet's niece, Kaboyo, who was "insubordinate" to Kyambadde, and Muhwezi, also in Janet's camp. Mwondha presented the results of her investigation to Museveni, who requested, in writing, that she arrest Muhwezi, Mukula, Kamugisha, and Kaboyo. However, in the rush to bring Muhwezi and the other defendants to trial based on the IGG's investigation, State House did not develop a well-thought out legal strategy and failed to involve the DPP and CID. (Note: The Government initially may have avoided CID because it is well-known for corruption and Muhwezi, the former Chief of Military Intelligence, has strong ties within the security apparatus. End Note.) - - - - - - THE DEFENSE - - - - - - ¶3. (C) The defendants are threatening to produce evidence implicating Museveni and the Cabinet for directing the Ministry of Health to source the immunization funds for campaign purposes. They also have requested that First Lady Janet Museveni take the stand to explain why her office, which is not constitutional, had access to the health funds and how she accounted for them. Muhwezi and Mukula are surprisingly confident and maintain that they welcome a speedy trial. Mukula's defense is that he just moved the paperwork between Muhwezi and the permanent secretary. His documentation also includes Cabinet minute meetings during which the redirection of the GAVI funds for political purposes was authorized by Museveni and the Prime Minister. It remains to be seen whether or not he would produce them in a public trial. The defense also has evidence to refute Museveni's claims that he did not know the GAVI funds had come into the country, which includes Museveni's designation of the Vice President to receive the funds. ¶4. (C) The four defendants are being tried together and have so far stuck together despite State House propositions and mutual distrust. Mukula says he dislikes Muhwezi for being highly corrupt and for using the funds exclusively in southwestern Uganda at the expense of his home area in eastern Uganda, Teso. Muhwezi has never shown any remorse for the misuse of health funds. Alice Kaboyo told P/E chief on July 2 that she is completely disillusioned with Museveni's abandonment of her after the loyalty she had shown him and his family. According to Kaboyo, the President told KAMPALA 00001199 002 OF 002 her to cooperate with the IGG, which she did. In her statement to the IGG, Kaboyo said that Museveni authorized the sourcing of political mobilization funds out of the GAVI. Museveni requested that she retract that statement and provide evidence against Muhwezi. The President said that he would pay back the funds she had handled in return. Kaboyo refused the offer and remains under pressure from state security organs to accept. For now, she remains solidly within Janet Museveni's camp and says she would not break ranks with the other defendants. Kamugisha also is being threatened with financial ruin by government security operatives. He told Mukula that he had been approached by State House to turn on Jim Muhwezi. For his part, Muhwezi maintains the case was initiated to weaken his standing and influence within the ruling party. Muhwezi told P/E chief that he and others are laying the foundation for a "third force" to back Janet Museveni to run for President, which would be made up of current disgruntled ruling party members and be backed by a new newspaper. - - - - - - - - - - - STATE HOUSE POSITION - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (C) Moses Byaruhanga, Political Advisor to Museveni, told P/E Chief on July 10 that the IGG's case against the former health officials was weak and that he expected the defendants to win the case if it proceeded. He explained that in most cases, the DPP works closely with the CID in building cases that would stand up in court. In this case, the IGG proceeded to trial on the basis of its own investigation, which lacks solid evidence and depended on testimony from government officials and information provided by Kyambadde. As a result, State House had lost confidence that it could win the case. ¶6. (U) As the trial opened on July 16, Michael Wamasebu, the prosecutor from the IGG's office, requested more time for a new team of lawyers from the DPP's office to become familiar with the case. A joint IGG-DPP team would now try the case. Defense lawyers protested, arguing that the time and date of the trial was fixed and that an unprepared prosecution team was not sufficient grounds for a postponement. Justice Margaret Tibulya rejected the argument and ruled that there was sufficient cause and read out a new charge sheet. ¶7. (C) The Presidency is fighting defense requests to call First Lady Janet Museveni to the stand. The First Lady's office used the funds to hold partisan mobilization workshops in the run-up to last year's presidential and legislative elections, in which she was a candidate. Janet Museveni filed paperwork with the Ministry of Health "repaying" the borrowed funds, but inside observers allege that she produced the same accounting for other donor funds. - - - - COMMENT - - - - ¶8. (C) The President has struck first with the arrests. Unfortunately, the value of the case as a sign of the Government's will to fight corruption has been lost as the political elite and the public focuses on the behind-the-scenes battle for political influence. Many view the arrests as part of a plan to hush anti-fourth party members. Various members of the ruling party are lining up behind either the President or Janet Museveni. The case against Muhwezi involves complicated political maneuvering between the Banyankole and Bahima ethnic clans, each represented by the President and First Lady, respectively. Given the apparent lack of a Government legal strategy, we expect the case to drag on in a similar manner to the three-year old case against the Peoples' Redemption Army to mount pressure on the defendants to testify against Muhwezi. We do not expect to see key individuals jailed on corruption charges. BROWNING