The former executive director of Mulago national referral hospital Dr Byarugaba Baterana Bonaventura has been remanded to Luzira prison on charges of abuse of office by the Anti-Corruption court.
Baterana and six others are accused of causing the government a Shs 6.3 billion loss through irregular and double payments. The septet was on Wednesday arraigned before court presided over by acting senior principal grade one magistrate, Abert Asiimwe. They were slapped with 19 charges. Although 10 people were expected to appear before the court, only seven were present.
Also remanded are the former Mulago head of the engineering department, Edward Kataha, former senior Mulago hospital administrator Kenneth Wafula, and senior procurement officers; Christopher Okware and Adah Kamucunguzi. Also charged alongside the accused are directors and shareholders of Setramaco International Limited, Robert Wasike and Catherine Winfred Nabwire who allegedly used their company to invoice Mulago hospital for double payments of non-existent equipment and other non-executed works.
Those who did not appear before court include assistant engineer Perezi Baganda, the former assistant commissioner accounts/head accounts section, Ponziano Nyeko and former senior accountant, Charles Mwasa. It is alleged that between 2019 and 2020, while at Mulago, Baterana, Nyeko and Mwasa being authorized users of the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) abused their respective offices, flouted payment procedures when they irregularly processed payment of Shs 3.6 billion to Setramaco.
The money was purportedly meant to pay for the supply of consumables used in routine servicing and repair of large-size sterilization equipment with an alleged capacity of 1,500 litres which never existed at Mulago. According to the charges sanctioned by the director of public prosecutions (DPP), Jane Frances Abodo, that was an act prejudicial to the interests of their employer; Mulago hospital and the government of Uganda.
The prosecution contends that Mulago lost at least Shs 1.5 billion in routine servicing of the sterilization equipment. It is alleged that Kataha and Okware paid the said Shs 3.6 billion to Setramaco without following the established procurement protocols. While Wasike and Nabwire being the shareholders of Setramaco used their company to invoice Mulago to demand payments.
The DPP says this resulted in a loss because the hospital administrators were well aware that the invoices and payments were advances for non-existent and fictitious works. It is further alleged that Kataha and Wafula irregularly certified non-executed works of routine servicing and repair of non-existent machines.
On the other hand, Kamucunguzi, the procurement officer allegedly flouted public procurement procedures during the procurement of services for the repair of the sterilization equipment at Old Mulago, Kawempe and Kiruddu hospitals. The prosecution said that the regular award of the said contract to Setramaco at Shs 7.5 billion was prejudicial to the interests of the employer.
The prosecution also alleges that Wafula and Okware during FY 2016/17 flouted public procurement procedures during the relocation and reinstallation of the multi-ironer from lower Mulago to upper Mulago which resulted in the irregular award of Shs 196,521,630 to Setramaco.
It is further alleged that Baterana, Kataha, Nyeko, Wafula, Okware, Kamucunguzi and Perez Matanda irregularly caused multiple payments to Setramaco and Convention Works – all totalling Shs 774,277,860 for the said alleged relocations. The state contends that it has reason to believe that such duplicate payments for works that were already paid for caused financial loss to the hospital.
For that transaction, Wasike and Nabwire have been charged with causing financial loss for receiving the monies on behalf of their respective companies. Further, it is alleged that Okware and Kamucunguzi, during FY 2017/18 at Mulago hospital attached to the public procurement and disposal unit of Mulago in abuse of authority, flouted public procurement procedures during the procurement of their respective offices during the procurement of molten blankets, guiding tapes and conveyor belt for the laundry unit resulting into the irregular award of a contract worth Shs 179,595,000 to Convention World Limited, an act that was also prejudicial.
It is also alleged that besides causing the double payments of Shs 179.5 million, Baterana, Nyeko, Wafula and Kamucunguzi again made a double payment of Shs 186,912,000 to Setramaco yet the award was previously given to Conventional to offer the same services of fixing molten blankets among others.
The court heard that in FY 2016/17 Baterana, Okware and Kamucunguzi and Matanda irregularly caused double payments of Shs 196.6 million to Setramaco for alleged relocation of the steam cooking pane to Upper Mulago, a contract that was previously awarded to the said company by Mulago, hence causing another financial loss as well.
According to the prosecution, the accused also caused payments of Shs 198,871,300 to Convention for the alleged relocation of steam cooking pans yet the same company had already been given the same contract. All the seven accused persons who have appeared before the court have denied the charges against them. Prosecution led by state attorney Raymond Mugisa informed court that investigations into this matter are about to be completed.
However, magistrate Asiimwe declined to hear their bail application, saying that it was late and given the long procedure for applying bail and the need for the prosecution to reply and the applicants to make a rejoinder and present at least two sureties, he couldn’t hear their application.
He thus sent them to prison until June 24. Baterana was first indicted in September 2022 following his arrest in March 2022 by the State House Monitoring Unit (SHMU) on allegations of abuse of office, embezzlement, causing financial loss and fraudulent false accounting of Shs 28.8 billion. Subsequently, the permanent secretary of ministry of Health Dr Diana Atwine, interdicted Baterana over the said multi-billion scandals.
