Following scathing results from a parliamentary investigation and an examination by the UNBC Board, David Livingstone Ebiru was fired as Executive Director of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards.
The findings of the National Standards Council and Ebiru’s confessions before the Committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises, COSASE, according to Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives Minister Francis Mwebesa, left no other choice but to sever the contract with the troubled ED.
According to Mwebesa’s letter, Ebiru acknowledged taking money from the PVoC (Pre-export Verification of Conformity) collection monies at the source and spending $3 million (11.5 billion shillings), even though it was intended to be transferred to the Consolidated Fund.
The 2015 Public Finance Management Act was broken by this. Additionally, he is charged with admitting to spending up to 285 million shillings of the money that traders and companies had deposed as security, “contrary to the advice and guidance of the Accountant General and the Republic of Uganda Treasury Instructions 2017.”
Ebiru also acknowledged to violating Treasury Instructions 2017 and UNBS Finance and Administration Manual (5.0 [a] and (5.6) by making a number of cash withdrawals without permission from the Council, Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development Permanent Secretary, and Secretary to the Treasury.
The letter also highlights Ebiru’s admission to failing to discipline five employees who cost the standards body 9.2 million dollars in lost revenue.
According to reports, these have changed application dates on the E-portal Applications and backdated inspection dates on Inspection Reports.
In spite of proof of a plea agreement by him and others to return the diverted cash, he denied having been examined and declared responsible by the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) for the embezzlement of monies intended for the Fuel Marking Project collectively.
Part of Mwebesa’s letter states, “In light of the foregoing, and in light of your own admission of having broken the law and established procedures, and in accordance with Section 11 (2), (5) [b] and [c] of the UNBS Amendment Act 2013, Council unanimously recommended that I cause your dismissal as Executive Director of UNBS.”
He explains in the letter that Ebiru’s conduct damaged the UNBS’s reputation and that he agrees with the NSC’s proposal. Mwebesa claims that the Chairman and Members of the Council’s reputation has suffered greatly as a result of your admission of bribery under oath and your attempt to retract such an allegation.
“Therefore, the purpose of this letter is to inform you that, in accordance with Sections 11(2), (5)(b), and (c) of the UNBS Amendment Act 2013, I hereby dismiss you from the position of Executive Director of UNBS with immediate effect.” In May 2021, Ebiru was confirmed as the fourteenth CEO of UNBS, succeeding the departing Dr. Ben Manyindo.
He was placed on administrative leave for six months pending more investigations as a result of the parliamentary inquiry conducted last month, during which he acknowledged to bribing Council members to keep his job. Daniel Richard Makayi Nangalama took over in his place.