Former Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Winnie Kiiza has spat fire after journalist-turned-lawyer Ivan Okuda accused her of pocketing a Shs40m bribe in a Public Accounts Committee.
It all started after Winnie Kiiza spoke about the service award she got for her role as Leader of Opposition in Parliament. This was a recognition. It had no monetary value to it. An accolade, a calendar, diary and a bag. Forever humbled by the kind gesture of Parliament of Uganda.
“This was in response to former LoP Mathias Mpuuga’s Shs500m Service Award corruption scandal,” she noted.
“I did not negotiate for any service award. The accolade, diary, calendar and a bag were generally given to the leadership of the 10th parliament. I had ceased to be a member of the Commission. In fact, I received the items in 2022 when I had officially retired from elective politics.”
OKUDA ALLEGATIONS ON WINNIE KIIZA BRIBE
But Okuda told Kiiza to stop pretending to be a clean politician, alleging that she was swallowed Shs40m as a member of a Parliament’s Appointments Committee.
Okuda, an associate at Anguria & Co. Advocates (according to his social media profile), claimed that one day, while he and a minister in President Yoweri Museveni’s government were sipping at their tea, an ‘Atesot MP’ delivered a Shs40m bribe to Kiiza, then a LoP.
Okuda further claimed that the Shs40m was to soften the hearts of members of the Appointments Committee – on which the LoP sat – to approve the police chief Gen Kale Kayihura.
“Winnie, stop posturing on this Mathias Mpuuga issue. As LOP you sat in Appointments Committee. When Kale Kayihura’s IGP contract was up for approval, that Committee picked money,” alleged Okuda, without offering evidence to back up his allegations.
“The Atesot MP who delivered your Sh.40m package told a minister I was taking tea with in real time.”
WINNIE KIIZA FIRES BACK AT OKUDA OVER SHS40M BRIBE ALLEGATIONS
But in response, Kiiza, the former Kasese District Woman MP and a leading member of Maj Gen (Rtd) Mugisha Muntu’s Alliance for National Transformation (ANT), spat fire over Okuda’s claims.
She said she had never heard of the package until today. Reminding Okuda of her position on the renewal of Kayihura’s contract then, Kiiza called the so-called ‘Atesot MP’ an imposter. The former LoP also threatened legal action against Okuda.
“Mr. Okuda, I’m learning from you that the Appointments Committee members received a ‘package’. I did not receive a ‘package’ of that nature. I rejected the approval of Kayihura’s IGP contract, and it’s on record. In the spirit of fighting corruption, call out the so called Atesot MP so that they are treated with contempt they deserve. Mufere!” she noted.
“And please, next time you intend to come up with allegations, make sure they’re true. I have invested heavily in this name, and I will not allow anyone to taint it. If it means taking legal action, I will do exactly that.”
Kiiza also reiterated her position on Mpuuga’s Shs500m service award.
“About what you term as ‘posturing on Mathias Mpuuga issue’. I am not posturing. My position on service awards is clear. If there must be one, then it should be clearly defined by law as part of the benefits of the Office of the Leader of Opposition as is the case with the offices of the Speaker, Deputy speaker and the Prime Minister.”
While Mathias Mpuuga has refused to resign over the Shs500m corruption scandal, his NUP leader Bobi Wine has given 10 reasons why he MUST go. (See Details Here and There).
Meanwhile, bribery and corruption in Uganda have become so commonplace that a Museveni Minister previously alleged that an office typist had tempted him with a Shs40m bribe. (Read Story Here).
(To advertise on The Pearl Times, send us a WhatsApp Message on +256(0)705690819).
