Prime Minister implicated in Oil Deals

[mirembe]

A latest leaked US diplomatic cable released by whistleblower website Wiki leaks has yet again accused top government officials of Uganda, implicating Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and former agriculture minister Hope Mwesigye in another oil exploration scandal worth $200 million dollars.

The leaked report which WBS TV has attained a copy of, say the two ministers were seeking a bribe of 200 million dollars in 2010 from Italian oil company ENI to support the company’s bid of exploration and production rights from heritage oil and Gas Company. This as Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi also finds himself in earlier national scandals revealed by the same whistle blower website related to influence peddling in activities of the electoral commission alongside foreign affairs minister Sam Kuteesa.

According to the cable, a 2010 December 17th report by the external security organization ESO which was allegedly forwarded to president Museveni, noted that security minister Amama Mbabazi was eyeing a $200 million dollar commission for securing a deal between heritage oil and the Italian firm ENI.

The leaked US diplomatic cable goes ahead to reveal that on January 7th, a former Ugandan foreign ministry official reported to the US that indeed Mbabazi and Hope Mwesigye were seeking kick backs from the Italian firm ENI to out compete Tullow in the awarding of the oil exploration rights in Bunyoro from Heritage.

The cable claims that Mbabazi was using a front company belonging to the European owner of Asante oil, and that ENI representatives distributed fat envelopes to a number of visitors including energy ministry officials, representatives from the office of the president, journalists and Bunyoro kingdom officers while at a safari lodge in Murchison park.

The report also indicates that Mbabazi facilitated a series of meetings between Tullow and ENI in Italy.

The report, which however does not confirm whether the 200 million dollars were paid to Mbabazi and Hope Mweisgye, comes barely a month after the same whistle blower website implicated Mbabazi in another national scandal of influence peddling in the activities of the electoral commission prior to the 2011 presidential elections.

The former security minister along side foreign affairs Minister Sam Kuteesa are implicated in a case of influencing the awarding of contracts for printing the 2011 ballot papers. We had not by press time got a comment from the mentioned persons. Ntv Uganda News:woohoo:

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