The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has today thrown out the Solicitor General Harriet Lwabi who led a team from the Ministry of Justice to answer outstanding issues in the Auditor General’s report.
The Solicitor General was supposed to explain the circumstances under which Government has lost billions of money through compensation to various companies in cancellation of contracts.
Notable among the various companies that have received huge sums of money from Government is Basajjabalaba’s HABA Group of companies that was contracted to run the markets of St Balikuddembe, Nakasero and Shauriyako in 2002.
According to the Auditor General’s report, the four companies under the HABA Group were awarded a total of 142 billion shillings in compensation, yet the money was not approved by Parliament as stipulated in the law.
The money is said to have accumulated from 8 billion to 142 billion in a period of two years.
The Committee chaired by Terego County MP Kassiano Wadri has thrown the Solicitor General and her team after the Acting Director of Legal Advisory services Christopher Gashirabaki denied knowledge of whether their office was involved in drafting, awarding and signing of the contract.
The law provides that the office of the Solicitor General is supposed to approve any contracts that the government commits itself to, which seems not to have been done in this case.
By Isaac Senabulya
