Gaming board on the spot over procurement deals gone awry

The Records Officer at NLGRB, Ronald Kimanje, told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises that he resigned from a contracts committee due to interference from his superiors.

While appearing before the committee on Thursday, August 3, 2023, Kimanje blamed Ag. CEO Denis Ngabirano for putting him under constant pressure and also blamed him for delayed procurements.

Kimanje said that some procurements were delayed due to limited sittings by the contracts committee, which he attributed to a lack of quorum.

"The one time we made a quorum, I offered to be the committee secretary. When writing the minutes, we noted that certain documents were needed to fulfil a procurement. The CEO asked for the minutes, but I could not avail myself of them because they had not been approved by the committee," Kimanje said.

He said he received reports from workmates that he had been blamed for affecting the progress of contracts.

"People undermine corridor talk, but they give you a lot of information. I saw the constant probing about my presence on the committee as interference. That is why I resigned," Kimanje added.

The PAC chairperson, Joel Ssenyonyi, tasked Ngabirano with defending himself against the allegations made against him.

Ngabirano said he continually pressured the contracts committee over their delays in holding sittings to consider procurements.

He added that he wrote a letter asking Kimanje to explain the delays.

"It had nothing to do with me interfering or trying to influence the approval of any company. My response to his [Kimanje's] letter was to substantiate. As per PPDA laws, I am entirely responsible for the procurement process," Ngabirano said.

He cited the allegations against him as blackmail.

"This is blackmail from the officer because I gave a response to his letter that has never been replied to," Ngabirano added.

The Head of Legal Affairs at the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board, Deborah Kituyi, said that the delay in awarding contracts was attributed to limited committee sittings.

She attributed the absence of committee members for meetings to other responsibilities, like field duties.

"The CEO has never instructed us to award a contract to a particular service provider. What happened was the delay in processing the minutes of the committee, as Kimanje has pointed out," she said.