By Andrew Gum
A petition has been filed at the Guild Tribunal at Uganda Christian University (UCU) alleging the misuse of the guild funds by the 26th Guild Government’s Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Nassozi Gelda. The petition was filed by students Edgar Okitoi, Andrew Marvin Kinobere, and Abraham Elomabani, who are represented by KEA Advocates on August 8th.
The petitioners allege that there was misconduct involving the misappropriation of funds intended to support financially disadvantaged students. The said funds were said to have been collected during the Guild Run event which was organised by the Prime Minister’s office and took place on July 16th. The event is a charitable initiative aimed at raising tuition funds for students in financial need. During the event, the petition states, funds were generated through the sale of T-shirts and run bibs, priced at UGX30,000 and UGX20,000 respectively. The petition further states that while a total of 113 T-shirts and bibs were sold, amounting to UGX 2,825,000 (estimated figure), the remitted funds to the guild government account does not reflect the estimated figure.
The petition also states that when Nassozi was summoned before the Guild Parliament in July to provide accountability on the alleged mismanagement, she failed to do so and the House asked her to provide satisfactory accountability within five days which she did not do, a move that the petitioners argue was in contravention of Articles 14 and 15 of the Guild Constitution. The petition also states that there was failure by the Attorney General to take disciplinary actions against the Prime Minister and alleges that this act condones the illegality and abuse of office and points to connivance between the two.
Efforts to get the defence’s response were futile. When contacted for a response, Hon. Nassozi claimed that the matter had already been addressed by the Tribunal and was closed. She however gave no further details of how the matter had been addressed.
However, the Attorney General, Esther Awor, replied to their petition in a response which was filed on August 12th. In it she denied every allegation and claim. She stated that according to Articles 35, 40, 41 and 55 of the UCU Constitution, the Guild Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to handle the matter and that the UCU Guild Parliament and Guild President are the rightful authorities to handle the matter. She also stated that while the petitioners filed a constitutional petition, they did not seek interpretation in either the UCU Guild Constitution or the 1995 Republic of Uganda Constitution as amended. She also stated that the petitioners failed to prove the alleged connivance between the Nassozi and herself.
The petitioners say they are currently preparing a formal reply to address the AG’s response.
