Among shields parliament over corruption claims
Parliament Speaker Anita Among. PHOTO/HANDOUT
What you need to know:
- President Museveni has recently preached fire and brimstone against the corrupt, including Members of Parliament.
The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, yesterday fiercely defended Parliament, claiming the recent war on graft that reached a crescendo after a number of lawmakers were detained on graft allegations, must be based on evidence.
Ms Among, who remains in the crosshairs after the United Kingdom and United States sanctioned her on allegations of corruption, relied on the common-law golden thread to defend the MPs, arguing: “We cannot say that our members are corrupt. Even if some of our members have been arrested and they are in prison, there is a presumption of innocence… You cannot say somebody is a thief. Nobody is corrupt, if that is what you want to hear.”
Her comments could place her in a pickle and re-ignite a moral debate between the two arms of government; Parliament, which is meant to conduct oversight and the Executive, which has recently accused lawmakers of colluding with a syndicate in government to steal billions of taxpayers’ money by inflating and re-allocating astronomical amounts of funds in the Budget.
Ms Among was responding to concerns by a section of MPs, who took exception with the contents of President Museveni’s recent letter citing corruption allegations against Parliament.
In a June 22 letter addressed to Ms Among, in which he returned the Appropriation Bill 2024, Mr Museveni highlighted the allegations of corruption as an indictment against the House, and one of the reasons he declined to assent to the Bill.
“There are three mistakes here. These are indiscipline in budgeting, sabotaging the national priorities and now suspicions of massive corruption. I am, therefore, writing to request that this practice stops accordingly,” President Museveni wrote.
He further wrote: “The recent case of the Members of Parliament who were arrested for some alleged offences has again highlighted the mistake of Members of Parliament interfering with the constitutional mandate of the President of budgeting for the country by reallocating money budgeted for the core sectors of the economy.”
A trio of lawmakers, particularly those who sit on Parliament’s Budget Committee, have been arrested, and others summoned for interrogation on allegations of abusing the budgeting process, and seeking kickbacks to influence allocations, which is tantamount to corruption.
Among the arrested are Ms Cissy Nammujju, (Lwengo District Woman) Paul Akamba (Busiki) and Yusuf Mutembuli (Bunyole East). They are accused of soliciting 20 percent kickback out of the budget increment they promised to lobby for the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) in the current financial year.
This is not the first time Ms Among speaks in favour of those facing corruption allegations.
Last Month, while on a public function in Lwengo District, Ms Among appeared to make a meek defence on behalf of the beleagured Namujju, claiming it was not a bid deal to steal as long as the MP shared the loot with her electorate.
Her remarks may not bear much difference from President Museveni’s warning to the Inspector General of Government, Ms Beti Kamya, who upon launching the lifestyle audit among public servants, was cautioned by the President not to touch ‘sacred cows’ who steal public resources and invest at home.
But Mr Museveni has recently preached fire and brimstone against the corrupt, including Members of Parliament.
During yesterday’s plenary, the debate on graft was polarizing, with some MPs denouncing the President’s comments, while other lawmakers accused their colleagues of not being entirely clean.
“There is a very serious allegation of grave corruption against the Budget committee. The wording of that letter specifically mentions corruption and he is not doing it for the first time…I would feel extremely uncomfortable that this reference is made to the Budget committee. I support the idea that the committee of the whole house processes the matter,” Jonathan Odur, the Erute South MP, said.
Efforts by Mr Patrick Isiagi, the chairperson of the Budget Committee to defend his members, were riddled with heckling. In his submission, Mr Isiagi argued that the Budget Committee only acts on recommendations made by the sectoral committees that process ministerial statements.
“Let us remind ourselves of the process of budgeting so that we point a figure and identify the enemy correctly. The sectoral committees interrogate the Budget seriously with the entities responsible, and make reports to the floor, which debates them and refers them to the Budget committee for harmonisation. Any reports made by the Budget committee are from reports from the sectoral committee,” he said.
He added: “We must all get informed that any recommendations made by the Budget Committee are part of the reports from the sector.”
“Whether we do ping-pong on who is corrupt, and who is not, the matter is before us. When the Budget committee brings their report, it is approved by the whole House. Whether you want to pretend that you are not touched, you are part of this Parliament,” Mr Dan Kimosho, the Kazo MP, argued.
