By Spy Uganda
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has directed the Auditor General John Muwanga to investigate how Members of Parliament shared Shs20m each yet he, as the Chief Executive of the country, had given different instructions to the Legislature.
In a strongly worded letter dated April 28, which Museveni penned to Speaker Kadaga, he directs the AG to conduct thorough investigations into how the MPs came up with the resolution to share the controversial money, under the auspices of fighting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The President specifically instructs AG Muwanga, in the letter, to ‘investigate Ugandan lawmakers’ decision to procure COVID-19 relief supplies for their constituencies in disregard of his instructions that the contested Shs10Bn received from Parliament should be handed to district authorities. Museveni said in the letter that he had advised Parliament that MPs take the money to District Chief Administrative Officers.
“In that case, the problem would only have remained between the Executive and Parliament of reshuffling the priorities of the executive without consultation.”
However, Museveni notes in the letter, “I now hear and I have seen on some TV pictures, MPs distributing food to the public or MPs delivering items to the district taskforce.
The question is: Are MPs the purchasing officers of the state of Uganda?” The accounting officers of the country are well known. The MPs are certainly not among them. What procurement rules did these individual MPs follow?”
It should be noted that Museveni gave similar directives to the AG during his 12th National Address on Coronavirus, when he said that all MPs who shared the Shs20m COVID-19 money should either return it to parliament or hand it over to their District COVID-19 Task Forces.
He warned that whoever uses or used the money to purchase any relief items did so at his/her own risk because they are not government procurement officers, hence they have to thoroughly account for the money.
The President concludes by stating that; “My decision, therefore, is that by copy of this letter, I am requesting the Auditor General (AG) to audit this aspect, where the MPs became the purchasing officers of the state and see whether their efforts were legal. I ask him to conclude it in four weeks so that we do not have to wait indefinitely.”
The above statement means the audit has been ongoing for the last three weeks since he wrote the letter.
However, a source at the AG’s office revealed to this website that investigations are already underway to establish who spent how much and on what.
The Source, who preferred anonymity because of not being the official Auditor General’s spokesperson, said that ”Some work has started. We are at the planning level.”
But key to note in Museveni’s letter is the highlighted continued clash between the Executive and Speaker Kadaga, who has since moved to assert her authority and independence of the House.
It also highlights the president’s fear of being undermined by the Speaker, a situation that could lead to a protracted battle between two arms of the state.
It should be noted that whereas Museveni directed the MPs to refund the money, Kadaga took it upon her initiative to undermine this directive by instructing the MPs not to listen to anyone telling them to return the money but to follow instructions from Parliament.
The media has been awash with stories on the Shs 938.8bn supplementary budget that was secretly passed by Parliament without debate on April 7 2020, which included Shs304Bn for COVID-19 fight.
Although various entities, including State House and the Ministry of Health shared billions from the supplementary budget, Parliament’s Shs10Bn has since raised a lot of public anger, after many Ugandans blamed the MPs for being opportunistic by enriching themselves from the COVID-19 pandemic.
