Maj. Dr. Tom Magambo, the Commander of police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) through the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Martin Okoth Ochola has fired all junior detectives in Kampala Metropolitan Police area over corruption and incompetence.

Multiple credible sources at Kibuli, the CID headquarters have intimated to theGrapevine that 47 detective inspectors and 355 detectives at the lower ranks were all transferred to upcountry police stations.

“The transferred detectives are expected to leave the city this week,” a source said.

He added that when Dr. Magambo was appointed CID Director, he profiled all senior and junior detectives in Kampala Metropolitan police area and established that many of them have been in their respective stations without being transferred for more than 22 years.

The source further revealed that Dr. Magambo further noted that his predecessors were only transferring senior detectives and the juniors were left at their stations that is why they ended up allying with criminals.

“Whenever a senior detective was transferred, the junior officers stayed and often made it hard for the new senior officers at their station to implement police’s policies. They have even been conniving with criminals to beat the system and evade justice,” a source said.

Sources added that before announcing the changes, Dr. Magambo first made a number of workshops and trainings of all detectives where top security officers from different agencies were educated on modern skills of investigating crime especially in this era where criminals have exhibited advanced skills in committing crime.

Sources said that the affected junior officers were directed to hand over offices and files which they are still investigating to the new officers transferred from upcountry.

Magambo made the transfer a few weeks after President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, in writing, complained to the IGP and other police leadership for sleeping on the job while criminals are terrorising Ugandans in Kampala Metropolitan area.

Sources said that the big man wondered how criminals have managed to terrorise Ugandans when his government has invested a lot of money in procuring Cameras to fight crimes in the city.

Sources said that Museveni threatened to personally intervene in the matter if Ochola and his men fail him this time around.

By Sengooba Alirabaki

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been asked to strongly punish and stop celebrated investigative journalist Andrew Mwenda from coming nearly to his family claiming that he is the one responsible for spoiling his son Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Lwemiyaga County Member of Parliament Theodore Ssekikubo revealed that a number of families locally and internationally have been inspired by the way president Museveni grooms his children from the time when they were still in exile til when they came back in 1986 when NRA captured power.

“One time President Museveni wrote in one of his books that when they were in exile in Sweden, power in his house went off. But when it come back, a young Muhoozi was very excited and jubilated the way children from poor families do. Now the boy is untouchable and doing things which embarrass my president,” Ssekikubo said.

He added that Museveni has been trying to control his children and stopping them from being involved in public lifestyle especially doing things like taking alcohol, womanizing, fighting in public places just like he advises Ugandans.

A furious Ssekikubo accused Mwenda of playing a big role in spoiling Gen. Muhoozi because of his personal benefits without thinking about the sacrifices the old man has made to groom his son to succeed him and secure for him public respect.

“I remember I privately told my good friend President Museveni not to allow my young brother Muhoozi to be guided by wrong people like Mwenda. I feel very bad seeing my president with all the sacrifices he has made for his family publicly apologising for things which would have been controlled early,” he said.

He added that he was very bitter with Muhoozi for taking Ugandans like fools and disrespecting the president when he summoned him over his disturbing tweets against Kenya.

Veteran Journalist Andrew Mwenda and Muhoozi have been tight friends from back in the days

He explained that the Museveni he knows does not want to reveal the outcome of one-on-one meetings he holds with different people but Muhoozi did it and nothing has been done to him apart from being dropped from commanding the land forces.

Ssekikubo was supported by Mityana South Member of Parliament Richard Lumu who claimed that Gen. Muhoozi might have put president Museveni on pressure to promote him to the rank of a full General so that he accepts being dropped from the office of the Land Forces Commander over his attack on Kenya.

Kira Municipality Member of Parliament Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda accused president Museveni of being responsible for his embarrassment and disclosed that he one time warned him not to involve his family in the country’s governance but he rubbished him.

He explained that Museveni cannot stop Gen. Muhoozi because he looks at him as a father not a president and it is the reason why he doesn’t respect other organs of the government.

He gave an example that when parliament summoned him, he sent Gen. Wilson Mbadi, the Chief of Defense Forces and the Minister of Defense and Veteran Affairs to represent him.

Ssemujju said this was disrespecting the legislative arm of government.

Ssekikubo revealed that as legislators who sit on the parliamentary committee on Defense, they are planning to summon Gen. Muhoozi and the UPDF leadership to explain why they put the president’s reputation in bad light.

Sekikuubo said they want the army leadership to explain how such regrettable moments can be avoided in future.

However, Rosemary Nyakikongoro, the Chairperson on Parliamentary Committee of Defense and Internal Affairs told theGrapevine that there is no need for summoning Gen Muhoozi and UPDF leadership to appear before their committee after president Museveni apologiseds in writing as the head of the state.

On Wednesday, president Museveni apologized to the people of Kenya and Ugandans over Gen. Muhoozi’s regrettable tweets.

In his tweets, Gen. Muhoozi boasted that his army can capture Nairobi, the capital of Kenya within two weeks.

His comments raised a lot of dust among Kenyans on the social media.

By Sengooba Alirabaki

Kampala city tycoon Dr. Alfred Higenyi Mwenembiye Jaala, who is also a senior NRM cadre, has managed to get the President to intervene in the quarreling between him and Equity Bank Uganda.

The big man from Rwakitura has already assigned a top Minister to find a way of ensuring that Higenyi doesn’t get deprived of his property unfairly.

The property in question is the famous Namuswa Plaza (Block 38 Kibuga Plots 298 & 299) which is a huge commercial building based in Wandegeya.

Higenyi, a vastly rich man with a lot of prime property in Kampala, accuses Equity Bank of fraudulently trying to hide behind the 3bn loan they gave him on 23^rd December 2020 to grab his Building valued at 10bn. At the prompting of State House, Higenyi, a long-time friend of Gen Salim Saleh, was asked to put his complaint in writing to enable the president to find some effective way to intervene.

State House sources have since shared a copy of his 2-page petition which is firmly in the hands of the President with all the relevant annexures. The annexures relate to documentation and correspondence which has been exchanged over the years regarding the 3bn loan.

In the petition, the senior NRM cadre from Butaleja explains everything clearly indicating why he thinks the much-hated Equity Bank didn’t treat him fairly at all. He starts by begging Museveni “intervene” to help “rescue” his property because it’s all he has looking at it has his source of pension in retirement. ”Equity Bank has made it a habit to grab our properties in the recent times even if one offered to pay,” Higenyi states in a bid to liken Equity Bank to mischief similar to what Sudhir used to be accused of.

He admits the loan he took out on 23^rd December 2020 was repayable in 8 years. That he used the money to complete the building which originally existed as a mere shell. That he acquired the building in that shell state and had to remodel it for the tenants to be able to move in. He says as soon as he began earning some rental income, COVID19 struck and this complicated things for not only him but all other arcade owners.

Higenyi explains to the President that because businesses were closed down, for two years he didn’t earn any income because his Namuswa Plaza was closed as all tenants stayed away. He approached Equity Bank and requested to have the loan restructured to have a longer repayment period but they refused even when they knew he wasn’t earning anything. “Instead they increased the repayment installments from 57m to 65m per month.”

He explains this made worse an already bad situation because even when the economy reopened, many of his tenants didn’t return. This deprived him of business and opportunity to make money and be able to promptly pay up but the authorities at Equity Bank weren’t that understanding.

Higenyi informed the President that he ended up managing 30m per month where Equity Bank demanded 65m.

That in total, he has so far deposited 500m out of the 3bn he took out barely 2 years ago. Equity Bank insists the balance is now 4.4bn which means the total becomes 4.9bn which Higenyi must pay up and now as opposed to 8 year repayment period he was originally offered.

On 15^th August 2022, Equity bank advertised the building and gave him up to 15^th September. He says within that one month, he tried five times to engage his creditors but Equity bosses denied him audience. To him, this shows they were not acting in good faith. Their interest was the building and not recovering the money.

This prompted him to engage a lawyer, who is former Minister Mwesigwa Rukutana to secure a court injunction against Equity bank. One of Higenyi’s spouses has also put a caveat on the property implying no transaction should take place. She is putting a caveat because this is part of the family property or estate yet no spousal consent was obtained as required by law as the mortgage was being undertaken between her husband and Equity bank.

The spousal consent plea, once successfully pleaded, could put Equity bank in real trouble to the extent they might even fail to ever recover anything once court declares the mortgage invalid or defective for want of spousal consent.

Higenyi says that the property value currently is 10bn and yet Equity bank has rejected his proposal to be the one to get the buyer and give them what is due to them. He says this too has been rejected by Equity which shows they have fraudulent intentions. He wonders why Equity bank has rejected his own buyer who wanted to pay 10bn for the building.

He says his lawyer of Kayanja & Co Advocates has been engaging on his behalf but Equity bank has been dodging them which clearly shows they are not acting in good faith. He wonders why Equity bank even goes as far as ignoring the caveat on the property which has since been sold to SINACO Ltd, a company which is owned by Kampala tycoon Swaib Kiyemba and his son Moses Kiyemba. SINCO is also the one which bought the building housing Senana supermarket near State House Nakasero and Nana hostel in Kagugube near Makerere/LDC. All these were being sold as a result of foreclosure after the original owners failed to meet loan obligations.

Higenyi informs Museveni of the trauma he endured on Tuesday 4^th October when a group of heavily armed army men and policemen raided his Namuswa Plaza management offices and forcefully took over ownership of the building. The Wandegeya DPC commanded the operation which Higenyi says shows bias.

They claimed to act on behalf of SINCO Ltd whose lawyers from D Kagarura Advocates & Solicitors subsequently went to the building and informed tenants that management and ownership of the building had changed.

Higenyi also reveals to the President that effective 15^th September, he began seeing notifications on his phone indicating some money was being deposited and received on his bank account, something he objected to but still Equity bank never cooperated. The bank eventually purported to garnish his bank account in order to deny him any access to the same.

He says he was treated very unfairly because he got the money and was ready to pay up within the notice period of 15^th August to 15^th September but Equity bank denied him audience.

He concludes with “Your Excellency this is my life investment which I look to for my entire family and very many dependents’ survival. I’m also your ardent cadre from Butaleja. The habit of banks grabbing our property and nobody comes to intervene leaves a bitter taste in our mouth.”

He signed off as Dr. Higenyi Alfred Jaala the chairman for board of directors.

By Grapevine Reporter