Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) has admitted that London law firm that Uganda government paid Shs2.5bn in the oil case didn’t provide a legal opinion, raising fears that the lawyers may not have carried out the assignment.
This shocking revelation was made by Doris Akol, the URA Commissioner General while appearing before the Committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) that is probing the much publicized Shs6bn presidential handshake on Monday.
This was after COSASE Chairman, Abdu Katuntu asked URA to produce the legal opinion submitted by Curtis-Mallet-Prevost (the London law firm) as proof of carrying out legal duties on behalf of Uganda.
Katuntu asked: “I do not want questions lingering with members about whether Curtis did this work or not because these questions are going to come. I just want evidence to show Curtis’ input. And I also imagine that if you are a lawyer, if I have hired a consultant, I need to see input and output. Can I see the legal opinion of MS Curtis?”
Akol responded, saying that the London based law firm didn’t submit any legal opinion, but rather jointly submitted with URA during the court proceedings.
“The work that Curtis did is legal support; they did appear with us that led to joint submissions. We have copies of submissions that were jointly submitted and schedules of input to show the work they did. The reality of the matter is that, we don’t have documents showing the legal opinion,” Akol admitted.
What is shocking further is that a week ago, Finance Ministry revealed that the London law firm hired to defend Uganda was paid by two Government entities to handle the same case.
Lawrence Kiiza, Director of Economic Policy at the Ministry of Finance, said that both URA and Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs hired the same law firm to handle the same case. The two government institutions spent over Shs14.4bn to hire the firm.
It was also revealed during the proceedings that URA didn’t carry out due diligence in the payment of the ghost of the former Secretary to Treasury, Chris Kasami.
When asked by Katuntu who received the money on behalf of the ghost, Akol said that the money was paid to his wife, Proscovia Kasami and children Jusy, Mary, Natasha and Suzan.
However, Akol confessed that the Authority didn’t cross check if Kasami had listed the beneficiaries as administrators of his estate.
