The Prime Minister, Mr Amama Mbabazi has said the censure motion that some Members of Parliament are preparing against him will NOT come to pass. He maintains his innocence in the alleged oil scandal in which he and two ministers are accused of taking bribes from oil companies.
Mr Mbabazi said the impending censure motion could only apply if he was a Minister. He noted that as Prime Minister he could only leave office on resignation, death, no longer qualifies to be a Member of Parliament (MP) or was removed by the appointing authority.
Mbabazi was briefing the Kinkizi West Constituency Council Executive Committee on the bribery allegations in Kihihi, Kanungu district on Saturday. District Councilors, LC3 chairpersons, opinion leaders and special interest groups’ representatives attended the meeting.
Mr Ali Rugomwa, the committee chairman had said the constituents were worried that their MP would soon be kicked out of Parliament. He was also concerned about government failure to tarmac the 43km Kanyantorogo-Butogota-Mpungu and 40km Butogota-Buhoma roads.
“Be steady and rest assured that I am going nowhere because there is no iota of truth in the (oil bribery) allegations,” Mbabazi said. He explained that whereas the roads were some of the nine prioritized throughout the country the government could only raise money for three this year.
He said MPs asking him to step aside on false allegations was tantamount to convicting him over unfounded claims and sentencing him unfairly. MPs including Theodore Sekikubo, Mohammad Nsereko, Gerald Karuhanga, Wilfred Niwagaba, Celina Nebanda and Rosemary Seninde wanted Mbabazi and Ministers Sam Kuteesa and Hilary Onek to leave office.
Mr Mbabazi briefed his constituents on the 10 resolutions, among which was that government halt transactions in the oil sector until there are adequate enabling laws. He said Cabinet rejected the idea because similar resolutions had delayed power generation at Bujagali in Jinja, slowing down economic transformation in the country.
“Government cannot stop oil activities because they are the way to industrialization and solving the employment problem,” Mbabazi said. He explained that the country had already earned over 2.5 billion shillings in oil revenues which would be used for the Karuma power generation facility.
He underscored the importance of agriculture in driving the economy, saying the Government had increased funding to the sector to 20% of the national budget, up from 4.8% last year.
Mbabazi said value addition to local products would be strongly supported to transform the economy. Other incentives included tax waivers on some products and improving the general investment climate in the country.
By Kyetume Kasanga, Prime Minister’s Press Unit
