Igara East MP Michael Mawanda was on Wednesday evening detained at Nateete Police Station two days after he was summoned over alleged mismanagement of UGX 164 billion of cooperatives money.
Mawanda, who is also the People’s League of Uganda (PLU) disciplinary head, faces charges of alleged theft, corruption and intentions to defraud Buyaka Growers Cooperative of funds disbursed by the government.
Mr Mawanda had been summoned alongside Ignatius Wamakuyu Mudimi, the MP for Mbulambuli Constituency in Elgon subregion.
The Kampala Report understands that Mr Wamakuyu will also be detained, joining three other MPs currently detained in the ongoing wide-ranging corruption investigations.
Yusuf Mutembuli, Cissy Namujju and Paul Akamba were last week arrested and charged with budget corruption.
The Mwine Mpaaka probe committee report discovered that payments amounting to Shs48.77 billion was made in excess outside the allocated amount to various cooperatives .
The committee investigated an August 25 directive by House Speaker Anita Among. The directive was to “conduct an inquiry into the status, governance, resourcing, and value for money for public funds allocated to Cooperatives during the period of Financial Year 2011/12 to 2022/23.”
In the letter, the Speaker raised concerns that there were queries regarding the budgetary allocations and disbursements to various cooperatives. The queries raised red flags about whether public funds were indeed disbursed to beneficiary cooperatives and utilised for their intended objectives. The Committee conducted visits and public hearings to selected cooperative societies in various regions of Uganda.
On November 25, for example, more than Shs1.7 billion was paid to Masaka Diocesan Treasury on behalf of Bwavumpologoma Growers Cooperative Union Limited. The Cooperative Union received its Registration Certificate on March 4, 2022, yet the parallel verification committee was instituted on March 21, 2022, a clear indication that Bwavumpologoma Growers Cooperative Union Limited was paid prior to its re-registration and verification.
The committee found that since its re-registration, Bwavumpologoma Growers Cooperative Union Limited did not follow the prescribed procedures laid down in Section 4 of the Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act, 2020. Its re-registration was therefore deemed irregular.