The Monitor (Kampala)
NEWS
27 January 2008
Posted to the web 28 January 2008
By Yasiin Mugerwa
Parliament
A ROW has erupted between two oversight committees of Parliament over the government's proposal to buy a Shs82 billion Gulfstream jet for President Yoweri Museveni.
New details show that members of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have accused their colleagues on the Sessional Presidential Affairs Committee of 'smuggling' the new presidential jet request to Parliament without consulting the Ministry of Finance.
The face-off over the jet comes after Mr Keith Muhakanizi, the deputy secretary to the Treasury, last Tuesday denied knowledge of the proposal and accused MPs of engineering the process.
"We [Ministry of Finance] cannot be blamed for this request because it came from [you] MPs," Mr Muhakanizi stunned the Public Accounts Committee (Pac). But Pac has vowed to open fresh investigations into circumstances under which their colleagues sanctioned the new presidential jet.
"It's absurd that the committee just endorsed the proposal without cross-checking the facts. It's not clear why Ministry of Finance was not consulted before bringing this request to Parliament," Mr Ssebuliba Mutumba (Kawempe South MP), the Pac vice chairperson said.
"This explains why the process was handled fast because they wanted committee approval. There is a lot of public outcry on this matter and Finance has already disowned the process."
The rift comes after MPs on the Parliament Affairs Committee in December 2007, agreed by a simple majority to buy a brand new jet (G550) for President Museveni at $48.2 million.
Although, the request is yet to be tabled in Parliament for debate, the committee's approval was enough to give the government green light to a much needed parliamentary nod. Sources close to Pac said the State House Comptroller, Mr Richard Muhinda, and presidential Chief Pilot, Maj. Gen. Ali Kiiza are due for cross-examination to explain circumstances under which the request was allegedly smuggled to Parliament.
In December 2007, the duo briefed members on the Presidential Affairs committee about the state of the GIV and the justification for a new jet. Mr Muhinda said the current jet uses more fuel and is expensive to maintain. Ms Mary Karooro (Bushenyi Woman ), who chairs the Presidential Affairs Committee, defended the decision saying the jet would be a national asset.
But some Pac members who are critical of the decision to buy a new jet, have reminded their colleagues of President Museveni's famous speech when he came to power in 1986, in which he mocked the expensive tastes of African leaders.
"The honourable excellency who is going to the United Nations in executive jets, but has a population at home of 90 per cent walking barefoot, is nothing but a pathetic spectacle," Aswa MP Reagan Okumu, a member of Pac quoted Mr Museveni as saying.
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