The Committee chaired by Hon. Reagan Okumu (Ind., Aswa) also directed the Arua district Accounting Officer to immediately recover four motor cycles allocated to various staff but went missing in a period of one financial year.

The Yamaha motorcycles each valued at UShs14 million were given to the staff in different departments to facilitate service delivery. A review of Arua Municipal Council’s fixed assets and an audit verification carried out revealed that the motorcycles purchased in March 2015 were stolen outside council premises and beyond working hours.

The Committee, which camped in Arua 5 – 8 July 2018 summoned Accounting Officers from the Arua Audit Region to answer queries raised in the Auditor General’s Report for the financial year ended 30th June 2017.

Arua Audit Region includes Arua district, Arua Municipal Council, Maracha, Yumbe and Koboko districts, Koboko Municipality, Nebbi district and Nebbi Municipal Council. It also includes Zombo, Moyo and Adjumani districts.

Hon. Okumu doubted claims that the motorcycles had all been stolen in period of less than a year.

“This must be a syndicate by officers to steal these motorcycles,” said Okumu.

Arua neighbours the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan which are both safe heavens for stolen motorcycles and vehicles. The 2016 crime report released by the International Police (Interpol) Directorate in Kampala shows that 516 cars and 395 motorcycles were sneaked into DRC, as the go-to destination, by cross boarder criminals.

The Committee observed that the low recovery adversely impacts on government’s objective of setting up the program as a revolving fund. File photo

Arua Municipal Council Town Clerk Jamil Kairu, who is less than a year in the position, attributed the messed up accountabilities and wasteful expenditure to the former accounting officer.

He also admitted that some Municipal staff had opened a side and unauthorized bank account where they were depositing revenue collections.

“The under declaration of local revenue is due to a false collection bank account and over estimation of local revenue from markets, licences, taxi parks and land management dues,” said Kairu.

Meanwhile, districts in the region have registered low recovery of funds lent out to youths under the Youth Livelihood Project. West Nile district are faced with low recovery of youth livelihood funds, especially Arua and Koboko districts.

The Committee observed that the low recovery adversely impacts on government’s objective of setting up the program as a revolving fund.

Arua district Accounting Officer Ismael Onhengel admitted that recovery of funds under the Programme remains a challenge.

Whistleblowers however intimated to the Committee that some beneficiaries of the funds in West Nile Region were Congolese who crossed back to DRC through the porous border after receiving the money.

In Koboko district where UShs 179 billion was advanced to youths, less than half had been recovered by 30 June 2017. In the same district, it was reported that UShs 10 million under the Universal Secondary Education was released to Koboko Modern Secondary School, which had been closed over land disputes with the neighbouring community.

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This as she issued a whipping warning letter that states that the next session will attract disciplinary proceedings against any Member of Parliament who will absent themselves from committee work.

Kadaga’s letter was based on a performance report of the committees and individual Members of Parliament, adding that those dodging the committee work violate rules 111(7) and 112(2) of the Rules of Procedure.

A source who did not want to make his name public said that this report is implicating most of the MPs of low attendance of the committee work.

The speaker noted that as a result, most of the work in plenary comes from Committees, and failure by a Committee to effectively handle business before, it adversely affects the performance of Parliament in general.

The speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has started the process of name and shame of Members of Parliament who dodge the committee sittings. File photo

However the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament who is also Soroti District Woman MP Angeline Assege said that the speaker has only pointed out those who don’t come to Committees, questioning about those who don’t attend plenary.

Assege said that the speaker has not done anything about MPs dodging plenary proceedings to the extent that some miss house for 15 sittings and she doesn’t do anything.

She said that there should have been a certain level of discipline instilled in MPs to know that they are being paid to do work for this country. She reminded MPs that each one of them represents people that nobody else represents.

The member of parliament for Bugabula South Henry Maurice Kibalya said that there is need to make the names of Members of Parliament who absent themselves from the committee public so that the voters can know which MPs are carrying out their representation roles and said that even the problem of social media tax is because some MPs were not around.

Workers members of parliament Dr. Sam Lyomoki said that that even though the system is good but they should not look at attendance only but also emphasize the quality of debate in Parliament.

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Angelina Osege the committee chairperson on public accounts committee and woman MP Soroti district

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has said it has discovered that there is alot of rigidity among top managers of the Microfinance Support Centre (MSC) in the transfer of Teacher’s SACCO funds for its operation.

This has prompted the committee to issue summons to managers of the Micro Finance Support Centre to explain why they have refused to hand over 7 billion shillings to teachers SACCO.

The Education Ministry officials led by the Permanent Secretary, Fred Kakooza, had appeared before the Parliament Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to answer audit queries raised in the Auditor General’s report for the financial year 2015/16.

In the financial year 2013/2014 financial year, government pledged 25 billion shillings for the teachers SACCO, which funds were meant to be contributed in 5 years, aimed at improving teachers’ welfare.

A total of 9.3 billion shillings was disbursed to Microfinance in the financial year 2014/2015.

In August 2015, Government took a policy shift over complaints from teachers on how their funds were being managed, demanding to have the monies be channeled through the teachers SACCO.

Microfinance Support Center had issued out 2 billion shillings, and the two bodies agreed to have the financial institution to continue managing the loaned funds, but remit 7.6 billion shillings back to the Sacco.

MPS on the committee discovered that to date the Micro Finance Support Centre has refused to remit the monies to the Teachers SACCO, leaving the two embroiled in a fierce battle.

The Auditor General Report pointed fingers at Microfinance has failed to provide accounts and record of service, leaving uncertainty on how the funds have been utilized.

Angelina Osegge, the committee chairperson put the Ministry of Education bosses to task to explain why the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two bodies still exists.

The Ministry of Education officials led by the ministry’s permanent secretary Fred Kakooza officials told Parliament that despite repeated communications to have Microfinance remit the money to the Teachers SACCO, the entity has refused to heed to the request.

The undersecretary in the ministry of education, Aggrey Kibenge, explained that the memorandum of understanding had provisions of termination, but when they sought advice from the Solicitor General the consequences were that Microfinance Support Centre had already disbursed money they had identified and terminating the contract would present difficulties in collecting..

Ossege who is also the Soroti district Woman MP said that the disbursed funds should have been recovered three years down the road because the memorandum of understanding provided for the teachers paying back the monies within three year.

In response, the Ministry said that terminating the memorandum of understanding would have affected the operations of Microfinance.

Masaka Municipality Member of Parliament Mathias Mpugga

North County Elly Elias Asiku Koboko wondered how terminating the contract would have affected the operations of Microfinance yet the money was meant for teachers.

Ossege noted that there is money lying idle in the Microfinance Support Centre  that has been abused and stubbornly refusing to put it where it belongs.

Masaka Municipality Member of Parliament Mathias Mpugga demanded the Microfinance support centre officials summoned to come and explain why they are holding onto teachers’ funds illegally.

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A SACCO holding a meeting

Members of parliament on the parliamentary committee on public accounts  have recommended the halting of the operation of Micro Finance Support Centre over poor management of the funds allocated to this Centre to lend to the poor people through SACCOs. This after members of parliament on the Public Accounts Committee chaired by Soroti district woman MP Angelina Ossege discovered that micro support centre through the ministry of finance want 7.5 billion shillings written off over bad debts caused by non-recovery  of loans from cooperative societies.
MPs while interfacing with officials from the ministry of finance led by the undersecretary in the ministry of finance Betty Kasimbazi discovered some funds under the microfinance support Centre has been advancing loans to cooperative societies which have failed to repay back. MPs include, the MP for Masaka municipality Mathias Mpuga Nsamba, MP for Ruhinda south Donozia Kahonda, Lwemiyaga county MP Theodore Sekikubo,  Ntongamo municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga and Kiboga East MP Keefa Kiwanuka said that there should be a forensic audit by the Auditor general to establish whether the micro finance support centre is still needed since its funds are grossly abused .

Masindi district woman MP Jalia Bintu and Ruhinda south MP Donozio Kahoonda  noted that some loans were forced on SACCOs without them applying for it and that they also discovered there were some loans advanced to hotels instead of SACCOs. Masaka municipality MP Mathius Mpuuga protested the lending interest rate which range from 9% to 17 % by the micro finance support centre to SACCOs, adding they are high compared to other financial institutions.
The head of finance and Administration John Mwebembezi defended the centre that the abuse was done in the past before his term of office but now there are mechanisms which do not allow releasing loans to beneficiaries with out proper guidelines. The undersecretary in the ministry of finance Betty Kasimabazi asked MPs on the public accounts committee to come up the legislation to promote cooperatives through agricultural projects to stop the issue of giving out funds in terms of loans which in turn are abused.

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The money was recorded as a loss to government by the auditor general report following failure by the management to deduct 6% withholding tax from gross invoice amounts of over 1.3bn.

The Deputy Chief of Mission China Chu Maoming handing over part of the drugs to the Commissioner clinical service Jancinta Andrua right at Naguru Hospital -donate-medical-equipment-drugs-worth-sh160m in June this year.

After failing to accept explanations from the hospitals executive director Dr. Edward Nkrunziza on why the money has not been recovered the entire management team was forced to take oath before the committee.

The hospital accountant Isabirye Siraje was at pains to explain how they failed to deduct the tax and why the money has never been recovered from the suppliers.

The committee chairperson Angeline Osegge, who is also the Woman MP for Soroti district, ruled that the committee schedules a separate date when the management will appear before PAC with the former management who have been blamed by the new management for the anomalies

The hospital management team was ordered to reappear before the committee on Monday.

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Jennifer Musisi Photo Credit: Monitor

The Executive Director of Kampala Capital City Authority Jennifer Semakula Musisi has put members of parliament on spotlight over demanding bribes from witnesses and accounting officers. Jennifer Musisi made the revelation while at the seminar of accounting officers organized by the public Accounts committee of parliament held at parliament’s conference hall.

Musisi’s revelations were sparked by the chairperson of the Public Accounts committee Alice Alaso when she told the accounting officers not to tempt MPs with bribes because they want to go to heaven clean.

Musisi said that accounting officers are many times subjected to demands coming from various committees’ members where they are summoned to appear. She said that she knows many people who are held at ransom by these demands and are threatened to face difficulty in the committee. She went ahead to say that accounting officers are working in a very corrupt country and system and they feel threatened when before some parliamentary committees.

Musisi however told MPs that some of the accounting officers like her have not succumbed to bribe demands by some MPs because they want to go to heaven.

The permanent secretary in the ministry of Gender, Pius Bigirimana, accused MPs of basing their recommendations on sentiments rather than evidence.

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City Laywer Bob Kasango

City lawyer Bob Kasango has agreed to refund 7.8 billion shillings which he had received through pension scam after serious grilling by Members of Parliament. Bob Kasango decided to refund the money after he agreed with MPs that he got the money through irregular court order.

However the Public Accounts Committee chaired by Serere district Woman MP, Alice Alaso, noted that although Lawyer Bob Kasango claimed to be the lawyer for the pensioners he had no list of beneficiaries inspite having an agreement with them to pay him 30% of the total bill of 15.4 billion shillings.

Bob Kasango named the High court judge for Masaka, Eudes Kaitirima, as one of the persons who demanded 500 million shillings in the transaction of pension funds to pensioners. He also pinned judge Kaitirima for signing on court orders that procured the 15.4 billion shillings to ghost pensioners. He said that the judge’s signature must be examined by handwriting experts through the directorate of public prosecution.

Kasango told MPs that as sure as day follows night the signature belongs to the judge. He also watered down the recording done by judge Kaitirima which was tabled before the Public Accounts Committee on the basis that it was tampered with. He stated that his meeting with the judge was 2 hours and 17 minutes  but the recordings in the committee is of 38 minutes and alluded that the judge must have cut out a lot of information .

Members of Parliament say that they will secure services of hand writing experts to establish whether the signature which procured pension funds to ghost pensioners was for the judge as insisted by lawyer Bob Kasango.

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However, the Auditor General officials who attended the proceedings queried the role of Mr. Stephen Kunsa in this office if he failed to detect such a scam where about 7500 dead pensioners were still on payroll. Mr. Kunsa who had served with the Ministry for 34 years also named the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Major General Severino Kahinda Otafire, in another 15 billion shillings ghost payment and MPs said that Otafire will be invited over after examining the witness submission.

Kunsa said that Otafire wrote to the Ministry ordering them to release this fund to a ghost law firm known as Hul and partners. In the same vain Mr. Kunsa faced it rough when the Head of Planning in the Ministry of Public Service, Moses Tegyeza, also pinned him on the authorizing of 88 billion shillings as NSSF contribution yet the law exempts public servants from NSSF contribution.

The committee instructed the police CID to fish out the suspected officials in the Ministry of Public Service who failed to appear before the Committee despite of the summons sent to them last week.

Among the needed officials are the former Permanent Secretary Jimmy Rwamafa, Christopher Obey and JJ Nansera.

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The meeting followed yesterday’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) caucus meeting in Kampala which failed to agree over the future of Mutebile in bank ofUganda. The MPs were invited for the meeting by the NRM secretariat on Kyadondo road. The meeting took place at State House Entebbe in the morning.

The NRM MP caucus which sat in Kampala failed to agree on whether to support Museveni’s position to exonerate Mutebile in the Hassan Bassajjabala compensation saga.

We are told that Museveni requested the MPs to reverse the PAC committee’s recommendation that Mutebile be personally held liable for his commissions and omissions in Basajjabalaba’s compensation saga.

More details to follow shortly

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The two ministers resigned last week after the Public Accounts Committee of the 9^th parliament accused them of causing financial loss to the taxpayer and abuse of office for their role in approving reported inflated compensation claims to a Kampala Businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba. The money was in excess of 150 billion shillings. At the meeting we are told that the president requested MPs to ‘love their party, ministers and the country and to save ministers and the government whenever there is a need to do so.’

A source that attended the meeting told us that the MP for Lwemiyaga Theodre Sekikubo challenged the president never to think that the MPs will ever save corrupt ministers. He reportedly told him that those corrupt ministers will one day fall and go away but Uganda will remain. So Sekikubo told the president that He and his conscience will never put NRM interests before national and citizens interests.

The MPs also asked Museveni to advise Bank of Uganda Governor Tumusiime Mutebile to resign for his role in the deals Bbumba and Makubuya were accused of.

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