The Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) has called for the enactment of the legal framework on the management of goods seized through the asset recovery process so as to provide guidelines on how items confiscated after being obtained through illegal means are managed by Government.
The call was made by Michael Olupot Tukei, Deputy Executive Director of Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) during a media training by African Centre for Media Excellence in Kampala, where he said that although there are legislations in Uganda that provide for asset recovery, there are inefficiencies in the management of the recovered assets.
He said, “We don’t have a framework in the country for the management of assets. That is why you see when drugs are seized at the airport, we have had cases where aircraft, schools are ceased but if you seized an item like that, how do you manage it?”
Tukei noted that the shortfalls in legislation can be addressed through the Non-Conviction Asset Bill to open up the recovery for non-conviction practices instead of the conviction based practice that is currently used in Uganda.
“Currently the law which is in place provides for only conviction based recovery where you go to court and in countries world over, they provide for non-conviction based asset recovery because it saves a lot of time. And because the non-conviction based asset recovery isn’t here, it is still a problem and we are aware that this law has been in draft for over 15years,” said Tukei.
His concern was re-echoed by James Jemba, an official at the Directorate of Legal Affairs at the Inspectorate of Government, who said the enactment of the Non-Conviction Asset Bill will enable in the fight against corruption among public servants.
Jemba said, We have the Non Conviction Asset Bill which is under review by cabinet. But that bill there has so many problems and it is targeting big people, so it is taking long to be revised, but we want it to be revised at the earliest opportunity so that we can use it to recover assets because most of the time, assets that arise out of court convictions, by the time you recover those assets, property are either disposed off or they have already been sold off by the culprits.”
According to Jemba, currently the IGG uses the practice of auctioning some of the seized items and the value obtained from the sales is what is remitted to the state coffers.
The development comes at the time a recent statement from the Ministry of Ethics and Integrity revealed that Anti-Corruption Agencies since July 2020, have recovered public funds to a tune of Shs271.205Bn and of this, the Inspectorate of Government investigated 26 High
Profile cases, and directed the recovery of Shs18.2Bn from Public Officers who misused public funds and of this, only Shs7.2Bn has so far been recovered, and paid into the IG Asset Recovery Account.