Parliament has put the Defense Ministry Permanent Secretary Rosette Byangoma to task over the government’s purchase of warplanes without consulting parliament.
Byengoma says that the money was received from the Central Bank but in form of a loan whose source of paying it was uncertain to her.
Byangoma, however, requested parliament not to task her because according to the orders from the senior officers in the ministry she is not supposed to talk much about the transaction with either parliament or the media.
Nandala Mafabi
The Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Nandala Mafabi says the expenditure by the Central Bank was unconstitutional because everyone mentioned in the procurement of the fighter equipment is aware of the procedure that requires public expenditures to be sanctioned by Parlaiment.
Mafabi says parliament will task the Bank of Uganda Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile to explain where he got the authority of spending the taxpayers’ money amount to 1.7 trillion without the approval of Parliament.
MPs wondered how the government could buy warplanes using unapproved money in a period when the country is not at war or involved in any war.
It is alleged that President Museveni ordered Mutebile to issue the money in terms of a loan that would be approved by parliament later.
Reports immerging from the State House meeting between President Museveni and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Members of Parliament (MPs) on Sunday indicate that the President commanded the MPs to support the motion of approving the supplementary budget for the Ministry of Defense when it is presented to parliament. President Museveni is the Commander-In- Chief of the armed forces and Chairman of the ruling NRM.
Some NRM MPs Ultimate Media talked to said there had been mention about the supplementary budget for the Ministry of Defense but they did not know the transaction was already done.