Kahuma who had appeared before the trade, industry and tourism committee on Friday said that UNBS had plans to inspect the cars from Japan to ensure cars are safe before entering the country but that the ministry of finance and URA stopped their plans.

The Ministry and URA claimed that they already carry out pre-shipment inspection and it would be a duplication of duties if UNBS was to do another inspection. Some car traders had been pressuring the government with this very reasoning.

But Kahuma says that what they intended to do is different from  pre-shipping inspection which he said was only after checking the quantity of goods. He says the UNBS check is after ascertaining the quality of the vehicles entering the country before they leave their place of origin.

The minister for investment Aston Kajara defended the finance ministry saying that it was an agreement reached at by the cabinet not only by the ministry of finance and URA as stated by Kahuma.

This raised different reactions from the MPs on that committee as the MP for Samia Bugwe north John Mulimba emphasized the need for checking the vehicles before leaving Japan for Uganda but Felix Okot Ogong rubbished it saying that the Ugandan government should come to an agreement with the Japanise government on the quality of Vehicles that should be sent to Uganda without necessarily paying a private company to undertake inspections.

By Isaac Senbaulya

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The MPs questioned State Minister of Finance, Aston Kajara over the criteria used by the ministry to select Enterprise Uganda and DFCU bank to disburse the 25 billion shillings allocated for youth development skills training.

Jinja West MP, Moses Balyeku said it is suspicious for government to utilize a private entity and not the Trade Ministry, which handles entrepreneurship schemes.

His notion was backed by Trade Minister, Amelia Kyambadde, who also rejected the use of Enterprise Uganda on grounds that there were existing institutions to help furnish the youth with skills.

Enterprise Uganda has been summoned by the committee and is expected to appear before the committee tomorrow.

Ultimate Media

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During a session with the committee, the minister of state for finance Aston Kajara and the minister of Energy Irene Muloni wanted to use the current budgetary allocation of 60 billion shillings to cover the arrears arising from the past expenses of fuel for the generation of thermal power by a number of firms.

The committee has however advised the ministers to drop their proposal because the arrears worth 92 billion shillings had not been reflected in the ministerial policy statement for the financial year 2011/12.

The ministry of energy has an outstanding debt of over 290 billion shillings owed to a number of thermal power firms such as Aggreko, Electromaxx, Eskom and Jacobsen among others.

The MPs argue that the committing of the money for current expenditure to clear off arrears has lots of legal implications, which they say they were not ready to get involved in.

The ministers have accepted the proposal of the Committee to drop their proposal and draft a new resolution to request for the funding to the tune of 92 billion shillings

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Making a submission to Parliament this morning on the loans, grants and guarantees for the financial year 2010/11, the state minister for finance in charge of investments Aston Kajara says that as by March 31, 2011, Uganda’s external debt stood at 4.7bn US dollars.

Kajara says that at the same time last year 2010, Uganda ’s debt stood at 4.1 billion US dollars.

Among the highest Government creditors, is the International Development Fund standing at 63%, with most of the monies committed to the works and transport sector, agriculture, water and environment, education, health and general budget support in that order, according to Kajara.

In the financial year 2005/06, Uganda got a foreign debt waiver with almost all the debts cancelled, a thing legislators say gave the Government a lee way to borrow the more.

They want Government to take a cautious step in future transactions, so that the country is not mortgaged and the debt burden on future generation increased.

By Isaac Senabulya

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Appearing before the joint Budget national economy and financial committees on Wednesday, the state minister for finance Aston Kajara, revealed that by March 2011, government’s indebdtedness stood at 4.29 billion shillings from 4.1 billion shillings registered during the same period last year.

Kajara attributed that the increase to new borrowings to support sectors like roads, health, education, energy infrastructure in education and water.

The minister however says the government is working towards reducing the dependency on donor support and focusing on local financing.

By Mugisa Isaac Mathias

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The minister of state in-charge of finance Aston Kajara has told MPS on budget committee of parliament his office is in the process of negotiating with private companies to receive part payment as government waits on parliament to approve the balance.

Electricity Company UMEME LTD announced a 12 hour load shedding schedule after private suppliers Agreko, ElectroMax and Jecobson switched thermo power supply for non payments of arrears by the government.

The minister said thermal energy generating companies have agreed to resume generating power despite parliament declaiming for the 2nd time to approve the 92 billion shillings debt owed by government.

The firms had stopped generating power insisting that government should first clear the debt something forced the power distribution company UMEME LTD to announce a 24 hour load shedding.

Energy minister Irene Muloni says she discussed the matter with companies following a directive by parliament on Monday and the companies agreed to supply power out of good will.

Muloni however said the Agreko plant in Jinja is going to be decommissioned because water levels have increased to produce on extra 40 mega watts. She was reporting back to the joint committee on budget and natural resources before which the 92 billion shillings request was tabled.

By Mugisa Isaac Mathias

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Map showing districts of Uganda

Kajara told journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala that in the previous 2009/10 financial year, the government licensed 340 projects worth 1.55 billion US dollars. The business ventures contributed 83,659 jobs.

The minister says that the 337 projects licensed by the Uganda Investment Authority generated a total of 130,732 jobs.

According to the report from UIA, the highest amount investments were recorded in the electricity and the petroleum industry with planned investments accounting for 445 million US dollars. The two industries had four projects licensed and they will generate 75,547 jobs.

140 projects (41.6%) of the 337 licensed projects are by Ugandans, maintaining local businesses’ leadership in investment.

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