The\nUganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) management is at war over the\nposition of the Board Secretary leaving staff confused on whose orders to\nfollow. Documents obtained from this Authority indicate that on October 1,\n2019, the UCDA Managing Director, Dr Emmanuel Iyamulemye Niyibigira issued an\nInternal Memo informing all staff that the Board had decided not to renew the\ncontract of the entity\u2019s Secretary, Andrew Kilama Lajul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nthus took a decision to effect changes in the management by appointing the\nFinance manager Nina Nassuna in an acting capacity as director corporate\nservices and Eunice Kabibi to handle board matters on top of her duties of\nlegal manager. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nwas at the time when the substantive Secretary, Lajul was away on official\nduties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nsoon as he returned, Lajul also issued a separate Memo directing UCDA staff to\ndisregard Dr Iyamulemye\u2019s memo saying no decision regarding renewal of his\ncontract has been taken by the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs\nyou are all aware, the power to appoint and terminate employment contracts of\nmanagers and above rest with the board. There are two statutory executive\npositions in UCDA, that is, the MD and the board secretary. The board is also\nobliged to follow established rules and procedures in appointment and\ntermination of the said positions including that of the Board Secretary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also,\nthe Managing Director does not have any powers to appoint anyone in acting\nposition at that level,\u201d Lajul wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ntwo exchanged later came after a September 30 letter the MD Dr Iyamulemye wrote\nto Lajul claiming the UCDA board of directors had decided not to renew his\nemployment contract despite his request and urging him to make arrangements to\nhandover office and other items in his possession to the Finance Manager. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nhandover was supposed to be within seven days from date of receipt of the\nletter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\nhowever surprised staff was that before even a day could elapse of the seven,\nDr Iyamulemye procured services of welders who came and changed the locks to\nLajul\u2019s office and also contacted the Information Communications Technology\n(ICT) Department to block Lajul from accessing the official Email for\ncommunication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nsource at UCDA revealed that Dr. Iyamulemye\u2019s communications came through at\nthe time when the board chairman, Perez Bukumunhe was out of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe\nboard secretary is the second-high ranking person in the management at UCDA.\nThe MD has no powers but he is just employing impunity and underhand methods\ncausing unnecessary tension and fear. Where else has this happened that even\nbefore expiry of seven days, one\u2019s office door locks are changed to block him\nfrom accessing it and his email is disabled!\u201d revealed the source who works in\na senior position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bukumunhe\ncould not be reached for comment on this matter because his known telephone\nnumber was off and even those of UCDA Public Relations Officer Laura Walusimbi\nwere off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nof the board members confirmed that no board meeting has sat to deliberate on\nthe contract of the secretary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\ndon\u2019t have to quote me but what I have told you is the fact. I just don\u2019t want\nto appear conflicted now that the issue has become contentious and it is our\nboard that is supposed to resolve it. Just get the facts,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\ncontacted, Dr Iyamulemye said that the board took a decision not to renew Lajul\nand that he has no contract after his tenure expired.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) management is at war over the position of the Board Secretary leaving staff confused on whose orders to follow. Documents obtained from this Authority indicate that on October 1, 2019, the UCDA Managing Director, Dr Emmanuel Iyamulemye Niyibigira issued an Internal Memo informing all staff that the Board had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":11630,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-11629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n