BETRAYAL! Ministry of Energy boss attacks neighbour over leaked corruption allegations

A top official at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development is blaming his current woes on a close friend and neighbour.

In a leaked missive shared on various WhatsApp groups, one of the officials at the Ministry of Energy who is currently under probe over alleged attempts to fleece a Serbian investor a whopping USD50 million, says had it not been betrayal by close friend Tumwebaze (another name withheld), maybe the matter could have been investigated and handled quietly. Over five officials are involved in this saga. These include Spero Byokunda, the head of petroleum quality and assurance at Ministry of Energy currently, a PA to an ICT minister, a PA to Energy Minister and among others.

Below is the slightly edited version of the attack:

“I greet you all in the name of God the Almighty, the Merciful.
I am writing this message with pain and disappointment because of the disturbing information I recently received pitting me against one of my best friends.
Recently I faced some of the tricky moments of trial in my life where I was betrayed by a person who I consider to be one of my best friends.
By the time my best friend puts me in the newspaper which is like the court of public domain and jurisdiction, who am I not to respond to this misdemeanor meted out against me? Ngu rufu eyaita omuntu tiyatiina kwiitwa enshoni, reero imwe abaziiki niimwe mwabweerabweera? Literally translated as IF DEATH HAS NO SHAME OF KILLING A PERSON, WHY THEN SHOULD THE MOURNERS FEEL EMBARRASSED WHEN BURYING THE DEAD PERSON?
As some of you may be aware, a couple of weeks I have been battling a nagging issue which involved my friends holding a meeting in the Ministry’s boardroom allegedly with my knowledge and clearance. This issue is still under investigation and it may possibly end up in courts of law. We should therefore not dwell on its merits and demerits BUT leave the investigations and court processes to take their course.
Related to the above issue under investigation and court, most of you are aware or you will recall the article that appeared in New vision about me.
Information from New vision reporter says that the person who filed the story and information therein is Mr. Tumwebaze also known as Juma. Sometimes he uses the title of Dr. Tumwebaze.
When this was revealed to me I thought that I was dreaming because Tumwebaze is a person I consider to be one of my best friends.
The puzzle to me now is why he would plan such a sinister motive against me moreover orchestrated and in collusion with some people in my Ministry whom the journalist named. I am yet to find out who exactly these are because their names were given to me in generic form. My next question is whether he has now become closer to the people I introduced him to than myself? Even if the answer is yes, BUT Tumwebaze and I come from the same village, so has my friend negated the principle of good neighbourliness? Of course in all this he is entitled to his own opinion.
In order to come to terms with this betrayal, I had to console myself with a story in biblical scripture where Jesus was betrayed by his own favourite disciple Judas Iscariot. However, such betrayals should surely be condemned so that they don’t occur or reoccur.
By all minimum standards, Tumwebaze is known in many circles as my brother or my kin. Am sure many people will be surprised to hear all this and many others may not believe because of the close relationship I have with Tumwebaze.
Anybody who knows Tumwebaze also knows how close he is to me to the extent that without bragging, it’s me who single handedly introduced him to the world of businesses he is doing which are now his cash cow. I consider him to be a successful businessman in town who I think is my loyal and sincere friend beyond any pressures of betrayal and a person who should be concentrating on enjoying the fruits of our labour.
He became too close to me up to the level of him confiding in me about his heartfelt wish of converting from Islam to Catholicism. His wish was granted when I enabled him to undergo catechism classes in preparation for the sacrament of Baptism.
In fact at the time of him being Baptised at Biina Catholic Church Kampala, he chose me as his God father and also chose my daughter to be a God mother to his daughter. His entire family was welcomed into Catholic Church with a lot of joy and enthusiasm.
Tumwebaze and I have shared many things in life together both in times of sorrow and happiness. In many instances he has been my spokesman in many of my family functions.
When the article about me appeared in New vision, little did I know that it was him who sponsored and financed the news piece. The journalists said that Tumwebaze was ready to pay any amount of bounty to make sure that my picture appears on front page which he gladly achieved. I am also told that at the New vision he went with a delegation of 3 other persons to show the press that he had support of people from Kambuga and Kanungu.
In order for journalists to confirm that he was the one, he told them that on the Sunday following his submission of the news article, he was going to be a guest of honour at Kambuga Parish to fundraise for some school and that definitely he will give and raise more money than I and the Minister usually give? Due to unavoidable circumstances I did not attend that fundraising campaign.
However, after he posted on the success of the fundraising where he informed us that he had managed to raise 20,000,000 for St. Louis Girls Sec, I congragulated him. However, his fundraising seems to have had innuendos of competition and whatever is driving him into such good or bad competition is known by himself and only time can tell.
My family which is fused with Tumwebaze’s family cannot believe what they are seeing and hearing and it is going to take them a long time to come to terms with this development.
It is believed that the motive of putting me in the Newspaper includes among others the following:
To show the country and especially people of Kanungu that I am a bad man and putting my name in disrepute.
To influence opinions surrounding the investigation and the court process.
To put my job on line.
Mr. Tumwebaze went on to tell the journalist that he is bitter with me and he will never forgive me yet I do not know for a fact what I exactly wronged him to warrant his bitterness to the extent of putting me in the newspapers.
I believe that being unforgiving is unchristian because in Christianity we believe in forgiveness and reconciliation.
Finally, from my heart of hearts and as a Christian I wholeheartedly forgive Tumwebaze and his associates because I tend to think that in maligning me he may have been driven by pride or narcissistic traits, short term pecuniary gains, unfounded hatred, bitterness and anger, jealous and envy which we as Christians believe that he can shed off through repentance and prayers
To me all is not lost. Whether I go to prison or whether I lose my job, to his satisfaction and that of his cronies, I will not nurse or harbour a grudge against him because as long as we are still alive considering that we come from the same place Kambuga and Kanungu, WE SHALL ALWAYS KEEP MEETING, WE SHALL NEED ONE ANOTHER, BUT MOST OF ALL WE NEED LOVE, PEACE, FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION.
Therefore, If I hurt my friend unknowingly I am very sorry and I wish to extend an olive branch for him to come and we reconcile openly without fear or favour. Going forward, I am willing to avail myself by a council of elders and opinion leaders to have a truth and reconciliation meeting with Tumwebaze.”

WHAT WENT WRONG

The matter is being investigated by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit under reference No- ACU GEF 176/23.

It is alleged that, on 22nd of August this year, Byokunda and others still at large, arranged a meeting between a Serbian investor who wanted to undertake Energy related projects at Amber house inside the ministry’s Boardroom but he never attended. He allegedly instructed one George to chair the meeting who in the same meeting introduced himself as Minister of Energy and Mineral Development in disguise.

After this meeting, a demand for the last installment from the investor who later became suspicious, and thought of knowledge and guidance from higher authorities in government was made.

The investor was then advised not to pay until the authorities became aware of people he was dealing with.

Counter intelligence traps were then set by state intelligence detectives using the investor and pledged to pay them USD 20m. This USD 20m was supposedly to be picked from the hotel where the said investor was residing.

However, on learning that it was a trap, the officials involved in the deal declined to go and pick the money in fear of being apprehended. This sparked off an intense investigation until now. The suspects are being netted one by one.

Our source at Amber house said, these arrests began when the secretary to the Minister of Energy together with Byokunda’s secretary were taken.

This further led to the arrest of one George who was first taken to CPS in Kampala, then later to Wandegeya Police station for more interrogation and he was later released on Police bond after spending 5days. This later led to the arrest of two more people; John aka Boyzon, a Personal Assistant to an ICT minister.

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