The Justice Minister Kahinda Otafire has been implicated by MPs on the Trade Committee in causing financial loss through breach of a contract for Pre Export Verification of Conformity for Motor Vehicles.
The MPs made the accusations while meeting officials from the Auditor General’s office led by the Solicitor General Francis Stoke.
The committee is investigating irregularities surrounding award of an exclusive contract by UNBS to JEVIC a Japanese company that was in 2009 contracted to verify vehicles exported from the regions of Japan, Singapore, SA and UK.
Jevic, a pre-shipment inspection company that checks used vehicles before they are imported into Uganda.
The committee chairperson Alex Ruhunda read out to the Solicitor General a letter from Otafire who was the Trade Minister at the time.
Otafire in his letter called for reversal of the exclusive rights given to JEVIC stating that the contract was not based on the law. He argued that there were no regions stipulated in the solicitation documents.
This move later led to an arbitration award of Shs 2.4 billion awarded to JEVIC by court.
Ruhunda contends that the minister should have sought the advice of the Solicitor General to avoid loss to government. However Atoke argues that Billy Kainamura was the Solicitor General at the time.
He has asked the committee to speak to the minister to get to the reasons behind his actions.
The committee is yet to meet with Kahinda Otafire to defend himself.
The committee also faulted the solicitor general’s office for approving the awarding of a contract to JEVIC that was contrary to the solicitation documents.
Christopher Gashiribake the director Legal was put on the spot for not scrutinizing the contract documents to make sure all procedures were followed.
Gashiribake argued that not all the pertinent information was brought to his attention.
ALSO READ: UNBS fraudulently extends lucrative vehicles tender to Japanese inspection firm
BACKGROUND
In 2008, UNBS contracted JEVIC to implement road worthiness inspection of vehicles in Japan destined for shipment to Uganda.
In the UNBS directive, JEVIC was to charge $145. But importers of used cars from Japan complained of not getting value for money, contending that they re-fix their vehicles even after certification from JEVIC.
Additionally, the importers demanded the inspection be conducted in Uganda, noting that the Japanese economy was the beneficiary.
The importers lamented that the faulty cars could be fixed using local labour, which would in effect generate jobs for locals.
But in 2009, the Pre-Shipment Verification for Conformity to Standards scheme was halted by the then Trade and Industry minister Kahinda Otafiire after importers complained of the increased cost of doing business.
The complex was commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni in October 2014, as part of festivities to mark 25 years of UNBS.
