The Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities (MTWA) has come out to respond to fraud allegations at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
Mr. Martin Mugarra, the State Minister of Tourism, while responding to the allegations on the floor of parliament on October 5, 2023, said that, as a supervisory entity, MTWA is greatly concerned about the alleged fraud and the negative publicity it has generated.
“The Ministry would like to inform the general public that the alleged fraud was internally detected by UWA. Consequently, the Executive Director commissioned an internal audit. The audit covered the period between June and August 2023 and generated important insights and preliminary findings pointing to possible fraud orchestrated by some staff from the Departments of Reservations, Finance, and Information Technology at the Head Office, with the possible connivance of some field staff. It is not clear how much has been lost. However, preliminary audit findings indicate a possible loss of about UGX 500 million,” he said.
“Following the findings, UWA commissioned a second detailed investigation, comprising members of staff from the Investigations Unit and the Uganda Police Force. The investigations are still ongoing, and findings will inform the next course of action,’’ he added.
The response came after Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa asked the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities on October 4, 2023, to explain the circumstances under which the government lost money through the dubious issuance of gorilla tracking permits, in a scam that is reported to have seen Uganda lose Shs60 billion in revenue.
The deputy speaker was responding to the matter raised by Moses Kamuntu, the Rubanda West Legislator, who asked the Deputy Speaker to order an investigation into the matter led by Parliament’s Committee on Tourism, wondering why the government should lose huge sums of revenue.
“For the last two weeks in the media, we have seen that through UWA, a lot of money has disappeared for gorilla tracking permits to the tune of Shs60 billion, and we know that all the tourism roads are in bad shape yet money is disappearing. I want the committee to investigate this fraud, and they should come with the report because it is a serious issue,” Kamuntu said.
The minister concluded by telling the house that 14 suspected staff have been suspended to pave the way for investigations.
The Ministry has further requested that the Office of the Auditor General (AG) undertake a comprehensive forensic audit covering the period between July 2020 and September 2023, covering gorilla and chimpanzee bookings at Bwindi, Mgahinga, and Kibale National Parks, as well as Kyambura Gorge (Queen Elizabeth National Park).
