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Just as the dust refuses to settle over the controversial contract renewal of Eng. John Mary Vianne Twinomujuni at the Ministry of Water and Environment, a new storm is brewing — this time inside the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
All eyes are now fixed on Internal Auditor General Fixon Okonye, whose contract expires next week, October 25, amid a behind-the-scenes push for renewal that threatens to ignite another succession war inside government.
SAME SCRIPT, NEW CAST
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Sources inside the Finance Ministry say the top brass, led by PS/ST Ramathan Ggoobi, is preparing to extend the contracts of retiring senior technocrats, effectively blocking promotions for younger officers — a move that mirrors the Twinomujuni saga now raging in court.
Okonye, who has served since 1992 and risen through the ranks to become Internal Auditor General in 2015, is accused of clinging to office despite reaching mandatory retirement age.
His supporters praise his experience. His critics say he’s crippling career growth and breaching Public Service Standing Orders, which restrict reappointment of retirees unless their expertise is “irreplaceable.”
POLITICAL PRESSURE
Behind the scenes, insiders claim Speaker of Parliament Anita Among is spearheading a powerful lobby to convince President Museveni to renew Okonye’s contract — allegedly because of tribal ties and political loyalty.
But others inside the ministry warn the move could paralyze internal audits and spark rebellion among junior staff.
“He’s determined to stay, despite reaching retirement age,” a top insider told GMU. “It’s déjà vu — we’re heading down the same road that embarrassed the Ministry of Water.”
OLD SCARS, NEW FEARS
Sources say Okonye should have exited the ministry long time ago with a possibility of jail over several scandals where his name has been cited prominently had it not been the hand of ‘Godfathers/mothers’.
In fact, his name has appeared in a number of sagas such as the infamous Pension payments, Cooperatives compensations and the recent Bank of Uganda (BOU) heist.
There have been concerns about his competence, with Members of Parliament questioning his ability to effectively audit government programs.
60BN BOU HEIST
According to sources, he narrowly survived being part of the people arraigned in court in regards to the BOU-Finance ministry Shs 60 billion scandal.
As the supervisor and deployer of all internal auditors in government institutions, his role in that saga was the reportedly failure to deploy an internal auditor to supervise the vote 130 [Treasury Operations] on which the heist was made, sources say.
Vote 130, caters for statutory expenditure – obligations that government must meet in a financial year like interest payment on loans, cashing out matured bonds and treasury bills, among others.
It is a vote that strictly goes to servicing of national debt and other financial obligations and has since been rising now to over 20 trillion.
And because of lack of Okonye’s alleged oversight, on September 10, 2024, $6.1 million (Sh22.5 billion) meant for the World Bank repayment was fraudulently sent to a company called Roadway Ltd. Two weeks later, on September 26, another $5.9 million (Sh21.7 billion) intended for the African Development Fund was wrongly transferred to MJS International in London. The funds, originally meant to clear government loans, were funneled into private accounts.
“Jennifer [Muhuruzi], the Finance ministry acting director of Treasury Services and Asset Management, is innocent in this saga and couldn’t detect the fraud immediately because there was no internal auditor for that vote. The Public Finance and Management Act stipulates that every vote has to have an internal auditor, something Okonye had allegedly frustrated for years,” says a deep source.
Sources say when the saga unfolded, Okonye secretly contacted his Godfathers/Mothers who eventually intervened and saved him from arrest.
Asked about this saga, Okonye said he did nothing wrong and that’s why investigators let him off the hook.
“Deployments of staff are made by the Permanent Secretary / Secretary to the Treasury who has a Deployment Committee that chairs to render technical advice. Even without a specific person deployed, the [Finance Ministry] Headquarters team audits is guided by the risk assessment. Treasury has always been audited and advice rendered through reports issued,” he said.
PENSION SAGA
Back in 2012, Okonye, who reports to the Finance ministry permanent secretary, also avoided prosecution in the infamous 2012 pension scam in which Police CID investigators grilled him for paying gratuity to ghost people using Cairo bank and withdrawing money through ATMs.
Acting as the commissioner, Internal Audit, in the ministry of Finance, Okonye was accused of fraudulently paying more than 3,000 ghost pensioners, costing the taxpayer Shs169 billion.
Okonye was alleged to have known the ongoing fraud in the pension department of the ministry for Public Service but failed to act or even notify the authorities.
Okonye says this matter was highlighted in several of his annual reports and he was exonerated.
Okonye also told Public Accounts Committee MPs later on that his office was by-passed on verifying the list of pensioners at the time the payment was made.
Okonye told the committee that his office dealt with collection of bio-data of pension and gratuity recipients but was never consulted on the verification of final payment schedule from the Public Service.
MAAIF 10BN SAGA
In the scandal, investigators from the Inspectorate of Government (IG) established that during the FY2020/21, the ministry’s technocrats misappropriated funds totaling to Shs 10.2 billion to Bukalasa Agricultural College (BAC) and Fisheries Training Institute (FTI) at different times. The funds were related to activities during the Covid-19 lockdown. It culminated with the IG ordering officials to refund the money.
Some of the internal auditors implicated were Godfrey Odong, Stephen Nzogi, Betty Nanyondo and Kenneth Mugumya. Okonye allegedly used his position to protect indicted juniors from prosecution. That he did this through promotions and transfers.
Asked about this, Okonye says this was also handled to satisfaction in in his then annual reports, though he didn’t share the reports requesting us to get them from our sources.
“Agriculture matters and pensions matters were well reported in my annual reports,” he stressed.
400BN DOMESTIC ARREARS INFLATION SAGA
In 2020, parliament’s Finance Committee raised doubts about Okonye’s competence following an independent audit that revealed that the Finance ministry had inflated domestic arrears to a tune of Shs 400bn.
Okonye’s report to parliament had indicated that government’s domestic arrears stood at Shs 2.1 trillion but upon getting subjected to a review by Ernst & Young, a private auditor, a private audit firm, figures showed the public debt at just Shs 1.7tn.
Okonye told the MPs that it could have been an error and there was no thieving intent.
All in all, Okonye is of the view that “well designed frauds can go unnoticed temporarily but not for long.”
“Internal Oversight, External Oversight, Parliament or Boards, Management and systems in place will eventually detect and deter fraud. That is what has happened,” he emphasised.
NOT ALONE
Okonye is not alone. There are other officials at Finance also pushing for renewal despite reaching retirement age. They include Moses Kaggwa, the Director Economic Affairs, and Maris Wanyera, the Director Debt and Cash Policy.
The junior staff at the Ministry want President Museveni to intervene and direct the withdrawal of the contracts that PS/ST Ggoobi has offered to the trio of Mr. Okonye, Mr. Kaggwa and Ms. Wanyera.
They are also disgruntled over the fact that in the past, a number of senior members of staff have retired, and PS/ST Ramathan Goobi did let them go whenever they clocked 60 years.
Examples include Mr. Godfrey Dhatemwa, Mr. Laban Mbulamuko, Ishmael Magona, Kakama Godwin, and Moses Zziwa.
OKONYE SPEAKS OUT
Okonye has dismissed all allegations, insisting he has served with integrity and merit.
“I’ve grown in the Service through dedication, not through godfathers,” he said. “Yes, I share a tribe with the Speaker, but that’s no crime. The position will be advertised — whoever qualifies will get it.”
JUNIOR OFFICERS REVOLT
Disgruntled officers have petitioned President Museveni, asking him to block the reappointments of Okonye, Moses Kaggwa (Director, Economic Affairs), and Maris Wanyera (Director, Debt & Cash Policy).
They argue that PS Ggoobi’s move to extend their contracts undermines succession planning and violates Public Service Standing Orders.
“When others clocked 60, they left quietly,” one officer noted. “Why should these three be special?”
Among those who retired without drama include Kenneth Mugambe (Budget Director), Lawrence Semakula (Accountant General), Godfrey Dhatemwa, and Laban Mbulamuko.
ALL EYES ON MUSEVENI
As the Finance Ministry saga heats up, President Museveni is under pressure to enforce discipline and consistency across ministries.
Observers say the unfolding events mirror the Twinomujuni contract chaos — a déjà vu moment testing the government’s commitment to transparency, fairness, and meritocracy.
COMING NEXT: Inside Files — The Secret Lobby Notes and Political Whispers Behind Okonye’s Push for a New Contract!
