Parliament finally gets cash to bury Oulanyah

ALSO READ: Govt cuts Oulanyah burial budget again

He earlier yesterday told this publication that the House was struggling on its own to meet costs of the funeral and burial activities and in some cases had to negotiate services from providers on credit.

The day had its separate share of drama too. For instance, a terse meeting between Members of Parliament representing northern Uganda constituencies and Ministry of Finance officials ended in a walk-out by the lawmakers who at a follow-up press conference accused Permanent Secretary Ramathan Ggoobi of patronising them on the budget that they approved.

Disillusioned, the legislators asked the government to keep its money, and turned to people of good will in Uganda and abroad to muster funds for the burial of Oulanyah, in the northern Omoro District, scheduled for this Friday after tomorrow’s state funeral at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala.

The days since the demise in the United States of Oulanyah have been characterised by divisiveness and sharp disputes over money, with parties disagreeing on how much should be spent on the former Speaker’s state funeral, adding to running frustration over the inordinate delay in disbursement of approved budget.

Government officials and parliamentarians spent the most of yesterday speaking at cross purposes over whether the burial of Oulanyah should cost Shs1.2b or Shs1.8b, if Treasury already released the funds and, if so, where the money was.

The national organising committee put in place to accord the former speaker of the 11th Parliament a “decent” send-off, initially budgeted Shs2.5b for the funeral and burial expenses, which have dragged on for a fortnight following delayed repatriation of the remains from the United States where he died.

ALSO READ: IGG moves to investigate Oulanyah burial cash bonanza

However, the amount was slashed twice --- first to Shs1.8b and again to Shs1.2b --- after this publication unearthed the original budget whose expenditure heads included allowances to finance committee members, Shs313 for lawmakers from Acholi, Oulanyah’s birth place, and in excess of Shs120m for fuel.

Whereas Mr Ggoobi affirmed that they on March 30 issued a statutory revision to authorise Parliament to spend an extra Shs1.2b as a “direct charge” on the Consolidated Fund “to cater for the burial of Oulanyah”, Mr Obore said they had not received the cash and the House was struggling to meet the expenses.

The explanation rendered by the PS suggested that Treasury lifted the upper cash limit for Parliament, and allowed it to spend Shs1.2b above its 2021/2022 Financial Year third-quarter disbursement, so that the institution could have at hand an extra cash to meet Oulanyah’s funeral and burial costs without seeking a supplementary budget.

In short, the Parliament budget had been increased by Shs1.2b this Financial Year, said PS Ggoobi.
“So, we have given Parliament the money for the state funeral of the Speaker,” he said.

At Parliament, legislators from greater north, joined by their colleagues from other regions, launched a fundraising drive to raise Shs1.8b that they argued was the original revised budget that Parliament approved for Oulanyah’s state funeral and burial activities.

Responding to the acerbic criticism by MPs and their contest over why the budget had been reduced to Shs1.2b, PS Ggoobi questioned “why the members of Parliament want to be the accounting officers, which is not their work”.

“It is not about altering [budget] figures, but the money we have available.  The Shs1.2 billion we have released is the money that we have … and there are other priority charges on the Consolidated Fund, especially statutory obligations such as interest on loans, salaries, and wages…,” he said.

ALSO READ: Inside Shs2.5 billion budget for Oulanyah’s state burial

There has also been heated debate, especially on social media, on whether organisers were conflating “decent” for “expensive” send-off.

Other commentators suggested that the government should stick to the law and use only 30 percent of the gross salary of a Speaker, or the money Parliament budgeted for burial expenses of an MP who dies in office, or combine both to meet costs of Oulanyah’s interment.

Mr Obore yesterday disclosed that the gross monthly salary of the Speaker of Parliament, excluding allowances, is Shs11.8m, meaning that the 30 percent of the gross annual salary adds to roughly Shs40m.

“We are suffering internally here to make sure that things move. Are you aware that it is Parliament that paid for Oulanyah’s treatment [in the United States]?  Are you aware that it is Parliament that brought the body back? Are you aware Parliament is the one taking care of mourners since he died? We are working outside our budget, we are doing things on credit …This money, is it being imported in containers that it is taking long to come? Where is it?’ he asked in an interview with this newspaper at his office.

He added: “The worry is that money will come after the burial, what will be its purpose...Parliament is running dry. They are overburdening us; everything being done is on the Parliament and this is a state funeral. Relieve us of the burden or support us.”

READ: Oulanyah’s death exposes strains in the thread that holds Ugandans together

In the early stages of the preparations, it had been communicated that Parliament would only be responsible for arrangements at Oulanyah’s two homes --- in Muyenga, Kampala, and in Lalogi, Omoro --- while the national organising committee chaired by Presidency Minister Milly Babalanda handles the rest.

However, that committee, without explanation, later pushed all responsibilities on Parliament, which was not immediately provided extra funding.

Visibly angry, legislators mainly from the greater north, in their second emergency press conference at Parliament in 48 hours, said bureaucrats were speaking in tongues over the burial budget, and acting indifferently.

Led by the Acholi Parliamentary Group chairperson, Mr Anthony Akol, they said the ill-preparations were a mockery of the legacy of Oulanyah that officials were publicly praising for his devotion to service and Uganda and value-based work.

“We are also requesting the citizens to raise funds for constructing the place where the body will be laid to rest so that government should save their money and therefore there should be no state burial,” he added, accusing PS Ggoobi of belittling at yesterday’s meet.

“We could not believe it. The arrogance with which he was talking to us, belittling even the MPs, thinking that we don’t know anything,” he said.

ALSO READ: Faces behind Oulanyah’s burial

Earlier, minister Babalanda, after a Cabinet meeting, assured the MPs in a follow up meeting that the government would make available money required for the burial of the former Omoro County legislator.

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Ms Lillian Paparu, the vice chairperson of greater northern Uganda parliamentary caucus, said they rejected the initial Shs2.5b “bloated budget” for the Oulanyah burial, but were shocked when Finance ministry technocrats unilaterally chopped the Shs1.8b that Parliament had approved to Shs1.2b.

The reservations notwithstanding, PS Ggoobi last evening said Parliament’s accounting officer had assured him that all services essential for a decent send-off had been catered for.

MP Jackson Atima (NRM, Arua City Central) said “our concern as the MPs from northern Uganda, including West Nile, Acholi and Lango, is why only concentrate on cutting budget for activities which were in the north, yet activities which are in Kampala, like the ones in Muyenga and Kololo, [remained] affected?”

“So, we are saying, we need that Shs600 million back and to be given to the [local] organising committee in Acholi so that it can organise things that they are supposed to do at home …,” he said.