With just a few days left to hand over his office, Professor Mahmood Mamdani, the Director of the Makerere Institute for Social Research- MISR is being dragged into accountability issues.
Reports reaching us indicate that Makerere University has blamed Prof Mamdani for failing to provide accountability for the years 2020 and 2021.
Meanwhile, Prof. Mamdani’s office is also blaming the university management for failing to order the MISR Assistant Accountant, Edgar Ahereza who allegedly refused to return vouchers to MISR Accounts office and provide the missing accountability reports.
In his communication dated 12th February 2022 to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mamdani reported an alleged failure by the University Management to respond urgently to his report involving the MISR Assistant Accountant.
It is said that Prof Mamdani wrote to the Management and the University Secretary, Yusuf Kiranda responded by asking him to be patient until Monday, February 14 before taking action. It should be noted Prof Mamdani intends to hand over his office on February 28, 2022, when his tenure ends.
“Before then (28th February), I intend to produce a comprehensive handover report, a confidential report that I will distribute to all key stakeholders, internal and external. Should this matter remain unresolved by then, I shall be duty-bound to inform any donor whose funding may be compromised by alleged fraud,” wrote Prof. Mamdani.
In his response dated 14th February 2022, Kiranda noted that Prof. Mamdani brought to his attention the issue involving Ahereza and he committed to pursuing the case to ensure that Ahereza delivers vouchers asked for by the Professor.
However, Kiranda says that Prof. Mamdani did not take the matter to him (formally) until Feb 7 February 2022 when he wrote seeking that the issue should be resolved on the same day he wanted to meet the Vice-Chancellor, a move he found fishy.
Kiranda became curious about whether MISR was undertaking the necessary monthly accountability after learning that some of the vouchers and cashbooks in Prof. Mamdani’s request date way back to 2021.
“It appears to me that your bringing of this matter to my attention and demanding that I resolve it on Short notice was only to enable you to find a way of shifting blame for your inefficiency. I find this approach to public management unacceptable,” Kiranda wrote.
Kiranda also highlighted on the poor financial management and accountability practices at MISR. According to Kiranda, Prof Mamdani delegated the Principal of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences- CHUSS to sign payment on his behalf while on a trip to the U.S. The Professor is being accused of changing financial management procedures without informing the University Secretary, who is the accounting officer.
Following the accountability issues, the Attorney General appointed Kit and Co. to Audit the accounts of MISR for 2020 but the audit has remained incomplete for almost a year due to the failure by MISR management to present the auditor with the necessary financial records, according to Kiranda.
“For clarity, I hold you responsible for all financial and any other records at MISR according to the mandate and responsibilities for the Director of the Institute. Therefore, I find your letter to the Vice-Chancellor, which insinuates the current challenge to the University Management failure a frantic attempt by you to deflect failure on your part” he added.
The exchange between Kiranda and Prof. Mamdani forced Management to decide that the Auditor General audits MISR and asked Prof. Mamdani to hand over financial and other records for 2020 and 2021 to permit the audit.
Apparently, Prof. Mamdani instantly wrote to Kiranda suggesting a specific auditor to conduct the process but Kiranda informed him that the Auditor General remains with the discretion to select an auditor of his choice to avoid conflict of interest.
