The Robinah Nabbanja I know

 While serving as Busia RDC, Ms Nabbanja was well grounded; she had moved the entire district monitoring government programmes. The people of Busia loved her for being an action-oriented leader who did not tolerate non-compliance. To date, she identifies a problem and gives a solution. 

 When I was elected as Eastern Youth MP in 2011, Ms Nabbanja was also voted as Kibaale Woman MP in the 9th Parliament. In the NRM caucus, Ms Nabbanja was elected as the party treasurer. Ms Nabbanja would present accountability reports to the caucus in every meeting.  While in the 9th Parliament, she joined the Parliamentary Committee on Physical Infrastructure. This move was not for showbiz, but to bring services closer to her people in Kibaale (now Kakumiro District).

 It was at a time when tarmac roads were so scarce in the district. It was the order of the day that trucks carrying merchandise would get stuck on the bad roads especially during rainy season. Ms Nabbanja would then use her parliamentary position to mobilise communities and fuel graders to work on the roads. That was when she was nicknamed “Majegere”. 

  In the 10th Parliament, I was privileged to work with Ms Nabbanja and Mr Arinaitwe Rwakajara as parliamentary commissioners. It was indeed during our tenure as commissioners that MPs and staff welfare was catered for to the maximum in line with the available budgetary allocation.

 During our service in the parliamentary commission, Ms Nabbanja chaired the audit committee of the commission. She transformed the commission for the best and her legacy has left a robust audit system in Parliament. First, it is Nabbanja who made a proposal that the internal audits be discussed by the commission, not by the top management as had been the case contrary to the Administration of Parliament Act.

 For the first time, it was during Ms Nabbanja’s reign as chairperson of the audit committee of the Commission that all internal audit recommendations were discussed at commission level and it has remained so up to date. It is also Ms Nabbanja who proposed that a subcommittee of the audit committee be constituted to scrutinize the recommendations of the internal auditors before external auditors interface with the recommendations. This was to ensure that all recommendations passed by the Commission are not tampered with or altered, thus building an incorruptible audit system. 

 This audit committee made several recommendations to the commission and also unearthed irregularities on public funds which prompted the commission to take harsh actions against the officials who were not following strict financial management policies.

 Ms Nabbanja is one who enforces compliance. I remember during our time in the Commission, we forced several Members of Parliament and staff to refund monies taken as travel allowances for trips that they did not take. Auditor General’s reports can adduce this fact. 

So there is no doubt that the country has got a capable Prime Minister who has risen from a humble background, and is knowledgeable about underlying challenges of the local person. 

Peter Ogwang is the  State Minister for Economic Monitoring (designate)