KAMPALA – The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Francis Mwebesa, has sacked the Executive Director of Uganda National Bureau of Standards, Mr David Livingstone Ebiru, following revelations of corruption and mismanagement at the Bureau.
According to Mwebesa, the National Standards Council (NSC), which supervises UNBS, at it’s meeting on August 1, concluded that the reputation of the Bureau was at a stake if Ebiru remains in office.
The Minister added that the NSC had investigated and indeed found evidence of mismanagement under the watch of Ebiru.
He said Ebiru spent Shs12.5b under PVoC, an export inspection and verification programme, contrary to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), 2015.
He also allegedly withdrew Shs330m from the Collection Account at Stanbic Bank, which is only for security deposits of traders.
According to Mwebesa, following the findings by the NSC and his admissions before a Parliament committee, Ebiru should have honourably resigned.
“The purpose of this letter therefore is inform you that you have been sacked in accordance with Section 11 of the standards act,” the Minister wrote in an August 4 letter.
This follows Mr Ebiru’s surprise admission before a committee of Parliament that he offered a Shs100 million bribe to Unbs board members as an inducement to allow him keep his job.
Under Section 26 of Anti-Corruption Act, the offences of corruption and bribery attract sentences of between 10 and 12 years in jail or a fine of 280 currency points (Shs5.6 million) or both.
Twenty-four hours earlier on Wednesday, July 19, the bribery confession had left members of the House committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) speechless. Cosase is looking into reports of shocking mismanagement and suspected graft at Unbs.
According to audit findings by the Auditor General recorded in a 2022 report, it is feared billions of shillings of taxpayers’ money may have been lost to gross abuse at the bureau.
Ebiru was consequently summoned by the IGG, charged before court and granted bail.
