IT WASN’T ME CLAIMS OTAFIRE
Hasty decisions, made in the heat of the moment with vengeance in mind, often come back to haunt as the former cabinet minister for tourism Kahinda Otafire came to realize yesterday. Having constituted a Commission of Enquiry into the UWA affairs of how the PAMSU project was managed, he too got dragged before retired Justice George Kanyeihamba who seemingly took pleasure in biting the hand which ‘fed him’. Party loyalists had immediately questioned the wisdom of appointing Kanyeihamba at the time, government critic he was and continues to be, as his recent outbursts during the ‘induction seminars’ for new members of parliament sufficiently demonstrated. Otafire at the time was not perturbed, sticking to yet another one of his trademark rash decisions, only to find himself in the hot seat having to answer questions to his own conduct.
Notably the now minister of justice denied the contents of a letter in which confirmation is given of receipt of funds from UWA, although he had to concede that the signature indeed was his – and who was surprised about that ‘little’ inconsistency. ‘I do not handle cash, my assistant does that’ was one of the feeble excuses fielded to the bemusement of the commissioners before admonishing the minister for ‘shifting blame instead of taking responsibility’ when Otafire attempted to heap blame on his former state minister Rukundo.
Otafire eventually conceded that he used money originating from UWA for ‘official duties’ though strenuously denied using any such money for ‘personal use’, as was alleged for one particular payment which was made at the height of the election campaign.
As said before, the mud is going to stick even to the ‘Teflon’ individuals who started this whole mess and now find themselves right in the middle of it all.
Watch this space.
