According to the Auditor General’s report of the financial year 2014/15, the ministry of finance failed to recover 744.4 million Uganda shillings from BIDCO in form VAT.

Masaka Municipality MP Mathias Mpuga

Committee member MPs who included; Masaka municipality MP,  Mathius Mpuuga ,Woman MP Agago district, Franca Akello and Angelina Ossege, Soroti district  wondered how BIDCO which was  given 260,000 hectares  of free land is defaulting on taxes.
MPs also noted that the same company is about to be given more 6000 hectares of land at areas around Lake Victoria for palm oil growing after the investor threatened to walk out if more land is not allocated for this project.

The MPs said that the expenditure on BIDCO in terms of land is too much on to country’s economy and they demanded the ministry of finance to avail to the committee the period given to BIDCO as tax incentive.

The legislators said  BIDCO Uganda’s failure to clear Value Added Tax (VAT) worth 744 million Uganda shillings when it’s provided with free land for growing palm oil seeds for oil extraction in Kalangala and other areas is a disservice to government which provides all these other conducive avenues for it to do business in the country.

MPs were interfacing with the officials from the ministry of finance led by the ministry’s undersecretary Betty Kasimbazi at the committee chaired by Soroti district woman MP Angelina Ossege.

According to the Auditor General’s report of the financial year 2014/15, the ministry of finance failed to recover 744.4 million Uganda shillings from BIDCO in form VAT.

Committee member MPs who included; Masaka municipality MP,  Mathius Mpuuga ,Woman MP Agago district, Franca Akello and Angelina Ossege, Soroti district  wondered how BIDCO which was  given 260,000 hectares  of free land is defaulting on taxes.

MPs also noted that the same company is about to be given more 6000 hectares of land at areas around Lake Victoria for palm oil growing after the investor threatened to walk out if more land is not allocated for this project.

The MPs said that the expenditure on BIDCO in terms of land is too much on to country’s economy and they demanded the ministry of finance to avail to the committee the period given to BIDCO as tax incentive.

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Adoa beat Forum for Democratic Change’s Alice Alaso in the Febraury 18 elections to clinch the seat.

According the results by the Electoral Commission, Adoa polled 48,762 votes against Alaso’s 32,651 votes on the polling day.

Serere district returning officer, Atim Awori declared Adoa as the winner of Serere district woman member of parliament. Adoa beat Alaso with a big range of 16,111 votes.

However, Alaso logged a petition saying the elections were not free and fair and was marred by intimidation from state operatives who she said tortured her supporters.

While speaking to the media, Alice Alaso, the FDC vice president for Eastern Uganda, explained that the loss of the FDC at parliamentary level was not due to FDC’s waning support but the resistance it faced from the state machinery.

“Our supporters were tortured, beaten and killed by the state institutions including the military and police. This was done where the use of money could not work,” said Alaso, who lost the Serere Woman MP seat to NRM’s Hellen Adoa.

Alaso narrated that what the opposition was up against in Teso sub-region, for instance, was not just the ruling party but a combined force of the state machinery.

“When the campaigns started, there was a whole battalion of the army that was deployed here. But, a week to the end of the campaigns, another contingent was sent in. This army did not only intimidate our supporters, but they physically tortured opposition supporters,” she said.

Alaso added that her supporter Dennis Eyoru was killed on the eve to the election, and also spoke of pre-ticked ballots.

“We have evidence of a car from the ministry of gender that carried the pre-ticked ballots. This car moved with boxes of pre-ticked ballots and we could not do much as people. We raised alarm to the electoral commission but no one came to our help,” she said.

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Parliament has approved three new public universities as government is put on task to explain the criteria used to recommend only the three universities and leaving out others. The new public universities have been approved after thorough scrutiny by the National Council for Higher Education. The approved universities include Kabale University in Kabale District, Lira University in Lira District and Soroti University in Soroti District.

The Minister for Education Jessica Alupo said that the new universities will equitably expand higher education to undergraduate and post graduate levels and develop human resources appropriate for the transformation and development of Uganda. She said that these universities will provide teaching and learning to all students admitted to the universities and to undertake basic and applied research critical to national development and to stimulate skills development in Uganda.

The Minister of State for Science and Technology, Professor Togboa Tikodri said that these universities will commence in teaching and research of programmes in I.C.T, public health, medicine, engineering science, teacher education, agriculture among others. He said that with a view to bridge the much needed skills gap in science and technology, it is anticipated that these universities will play a key role in developing our communities and transforming our societies towards achieving our vision 2040.

The Woman MP for Napak district Naomi Nyomera said that government should consider creating a public university in Karamoja region so that the region moves together with the others in terms of education standards. Members of Parliament also urged government to create Namasagali, Bunyoro, Rwenzori and Karamoja public universities.

The Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda says government supports access to education; it supports universities creation in all parts of the country. He said that both universities shall be established in the financial year 2017/18 to have viable public universities after being evaluated by the National Council for Higher Education.

He added that even other areas like Rwenzori and Karamoja regions will be examined for public universities

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