Inspector General of Government Irene Mulyagonja today accused the police of interfering with her investigations.
Mulyagonja appeared before the parliamentary committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to defend the IG's Shs 37.7bn budget for the fiscal year 2015/16. She pointed an accusing finger at police when Bugweri MP Abdu Katuntu (FDC) and Busiro East MP Medard Sseggona (DP) said she only goes for the "small fish" and lets the sharks swim freely.
In response, Mulyagonja said some big people walk away because there are several parallel investigating agencies including the police.
"That conflict between the IG and the police is live [but] I would like to know which body has powers to investigate and prosecute procurement and it has got to be resolved; where do the powers of the police on investigating procurement stop and begin because the police has more resources than we have. For instance, when they were investigating the OPM [Office of the Prime Minister], they could deploy about 15 officers on one beat, but the best we can do is to get four officers," Mulyagonja said.
She also attacked the courts for downplaying the institution's powers.
"The attitude of the court towards the Inspectorate of Government in procurement is bad. There are these small cases we have successfully investigated, but when it came to Karuma [dam project]; the issue was that we don't have the jurisdiction to investigate the procurement cases," she said. Read more
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