KAMPALA, Uganda: President Museveni has ordered that the Ministry of Internal Affairs Permanent Secretary Lt Gen Joseph Musanyufu, Police’s Undersecretary Aggrey Wunyi and Director of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) AIGP Felix Baryamwisaki, leave office immediately over an explosive corruption probe linked to the multibillion-shilling national CCTV and command centre project.
The directive, contained in a May 23 letter addressed to Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet Lucy Nakyobe Mbonye, ordered the three officials to step aside for six months to pave way for investigations by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit into allegations of bribery and abuse surrounding maintenance contracts for Uganda’s nationwide surveillance camera network.
“I now direct that the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lt. Gen. Joseph Musanyufu and the Under-Secretary Police, Mr Aggrey Wunyi, go on forced leave for six months as the Anti-Corruption Unit is investigating their matter to its conclusion,” Museveni wrote in the letter seen by DailyExpress.
“By the copy of this letter, AIGP Felix Baryamwitsakyi should go on forced leave as this investigation is reviewed and concluded,” the President added.
The CCTV system, one of President Museveni’s signature security projects, was rolled out beginning in 2018 following a wave of high-profile assassinations and urban killings, including the murders of former police spokesperson the late AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi, former Arua Municipality MP Ibrahim Abiriga and ex-Buyende and Nansana DPC Muhammad Kirumira.
The project was implemented in partnership with Chinese technology giant Huawei, with the government borrowing millions of dollars to finance the nationwide surveillance infrastructure.
In the May 23rd letter, Mr Museveni said he had received a whistleblower report from Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire exposing alleged corruption in the maintenance and repair of the CCTV system.
“I have got a report from Major-General Kahinda Otafire regarding the corruption in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Uganda Police in the matter of maintenance of the Police cameras,” Museveni wrote.
According to the President, after Huawei faced sanctions from the United States and European Union in 2019, the company reportedly shifted maintenance responsibilities to a Ugandan contractor, Dealan Associates Limited.
Museveni said the company, reportedly owned by Ugandan scientists, had been selected by the Internal Affairs ministry to handle maintenance and repairs of the CCTV network.
“Dealan Associates Limited, owned by some Ugandan Scientists, was selected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be the one to do that,” he stated.
The President revealed that although former Internal Affairs minister Kahinda Otafiire reportedly secured Shs31.37 billion from the Ministry of Finance to facilitate payments for the works, the contractor was allegedly frustrated by corrupt officials demanding kickbacks.
“Yet, the Ugandan contractor was not paid because the Ministry officials, through a middleman, Hassan, were demanding for bribes,” Museveni alleged.
The President specifically named Hassan Serunjoji as a suspected middleman in the alleged bribery scheme and ordered criminal charges against him if investigations establish sufficient evidence.
“Hassan Serunjoji should be charged if the evidence is there,” the letter states.
Museveni also ordered government to immediately clear outstanding payments owed to Dealan Associates Limited.
“Barbra Katisi, of Dealan Associates limited, should be paid her money,” he directed.
The scandal emerges against the backdrop of longstanding concerns over the effectiveness and maintenance of Uganda’s CCTV network, which Parliament previously questioned over malfunctioning cameras, poor footage quality and escalating maintenance costs.
In 2023, Parliament’s Defence and Internal Affairs Committee demanded a review of the entire CCTV project after legislators raised concerns that several cameras had become non-functional despite billions already invested into the system.
The committee also questioned repeated supplementary budget requests linked to maintenance and expansion of the surveillance infrastructure.
Museveni’s latest directive now marks one of the biggest anti-corruption crackdowns within the Internal Affairs ministry and police establishment in recent years.
The development comes at a politically sensitive moment as the President begins his new “Kisanja No Sleep” term amid increasing public pressure for accountability and action against corruption within government institutions.
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