Nkandla: DA to proceed with arguments before the ConCourt (03.02.2016)

DA 03.02.2016

These are the remarks delivered at a press conference held in Parliament. The Leader was joined by the Chairperson of the DA’s Federal Executive, James Selfe MP, and DA shadow Minister of Justice, Adv Glynnis Breytenbach MP.

The DA, after taking legal advice, has decided to proceed with presenting our Heads of Argument before the Constitutional Court scheduled for Tuesday, 09 February 2016. In so doing we will be seeking the relief outlined in our Notice Of Motion.

The DA notes the settlement offer made by President Zuma but contends that the contents of his settlement offer do not comply with the remedial actions as ordered by the Public Protector in her report entitled Secure in Comfort. In fact, we contend that the President designating the Auditor-General (A-G) to come to a determination as to how much he is liable is the latest attempt to establish a parallel process, for a fifth time.

Specifically, the DA will argue that President Zuma’s failure to engage rationally with the Public Protector’s findings and remedial action pertaining to him was manifestly irrational, illegal and unconstitutional. We furthermore contend that the President’s decision to substitute the remedial action ordered by the Public Protector with a determination by the Police Minister, SIU or Parliament  on whether he was liable for any of the costs was illegal and unconstitutional.

Legal precedent at present, as established by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), is very clear that “an individual or body affected by any finding, decision or remedial action taken by the Public Protector is not entitled to embark on a parallel investigation process to the of the Public Protector, and adopt the position that the outcome of that parallel process trumps the findings taken by the Public Protector.”

Furthermore, should an affected body or individual seek to challenge the findings and remedial actions of the Public Protector they should do so by way of a review application in a court of law. The President to date has not done so; he has instead frustrated the work of the Public Protector by way of erecting parallel processes, which have no legal basis.

Legal certainty about the powers of the Public Protector, and the force and effect of remedial action taken by the Public Protector, are vital to the successful functioning of our constitutional democracy. That is why the Democratic Alliance (DA) took the SABC and the Minister of Communications to court when they disregarded the remedial action ordered by the Public Protector to suspend Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng, and to institute disciplinary proceedings against him.

It is clear that the President Zuma has deployed a contingent of Ministers and ANC Members of Parliament to defend the indefensible act of constructing a palace at the expense of the people of the Republic. Those doing the President’s bidding have even gone as far as ignoring Court judgements in order drive a political agenda, despite swearing in their oath of office to uphold the Rule of Law and the Constitution of the Republic. Now before the highest Court in the land, we are confident that the Constitutional Court will bring the Nkandla matter to its logical conclusion by determining that President Zuma do what the Secure in Comfort report by the Public Protector ordered; which is that he pay back a reasonable percentage of the costs of the non-security upgrades to his private residence.

For too long President Zuma and the ANC have abdicated their responsibility to uphold the Rule of the Law and the Constitution, but have done everything to undermine to the work of the Public Protector and the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court will, on Tuesday, consider this matter in order to provide legal certainty about the Public Protector’s powers. The law has been developed in some degree in the Schippers judgment, confirmed by the SCA and that the Constitutional Court will rule definitively on the matter.

Nkandla 3

Tunoi Probe report: Judge appears before the commitee

“A special committee of the judicial service commission investigating bribery allegations against Supreme Court judge Philip Tunoi says it will present its findings this Friday. This after the expiry of the period within which it was supposed to complete hearings from justice Tunoi, Nairobi governor Evans Kidero and others implicated in the allegations. The committee which was appointed last week had been given seven days to complete the task” (KTN News, 2016)

Kidero: “I Didn’t Bribe Tunoi” (Youtube-Clip)

“Kidero, I Didn’t Bribe Tunoi” (Kenya Citizen TV, 2016)

Interesting findings from the AG report on “Central Government and Statutory Corporations” – Part Two!

Here I will Travers through the report of Auditor General of Uganda’s Annual Report for the year ended 30th June 2015. This is on: “CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AND STATUTORY CORPORATIONS”. I will take the quotes and stories that seem to show parts of how the Government of Uganda works and what the Auditor General have cared about addressing in this specific report. Take a look! This here is Part two!

MoWT Lake Bisina RFP

Ministry of Works and Transport Sector:

Certain information from the ministry:

“management used the services of a local company to print Ministry materials at a cost of UGX.48,000,000 without following procurement guidelines” (…)”expenditure totalling to UGX.157,861,512 was inappropriately charged on budget lines to fund activities that were not planned for without authority” (…)”management explained that this was caused by UGX3,367,986,442 that was held on the Stanbic Bank Collection account as the funds were earmarked to replace worn out equipment and plant and MELTC, yet management does not spend these funds at source; and UGX.819,209,847 mainly consisted of funds earmarked or Lake Bisina Ferry landing sites and DRRU. MELTC will be required to return all the unspent operational funds when the Rural Transport Infrastructure (RTI)/U-growth project ends on 30th June 2016” (P:116 – 121). Comment: This here prove how the have chared funds without authority. The Ministry also has to release funds back to the RTI U as they have not done their work on the Ferry Landing Site.

Mukono Chairman

Non-payment of UGX.490m to Mukono District Council:

“Management explained that the long standing dispute between the Ministry and Mukono District affected the progress of the ICD project and an understanding had been reached between the two parties. However in December 2014, the Ministry sought legal advice from the Solicitor General on the pending compensation of UGX.490m to Mukono District and the Solicitor General advised that there was no justification for the compensation since the District could not prove that it owned the structures” (P: 132). Comment: This here proves mismanagement for Local Government Council and the Ministry, that the monies does not leave either party or to the party that deserve the money. Not well played by either ones.

Construction of Nwoya Community Justice House – Abandoned construction works:

“Nwoya Community Justice Centre was constructed by a local company at UGX.1,516,916,000. The contract commenced on 11th July 2014. Audit inspection carried out at the site on 19th September, 2015 revealed that the contractor abandoned the work. There was no construction work in progress” (P: 158). Comment: Here is mismanagement locally and also with the ministry therefore it is a building without a contractor who left the premises. The OAG and the Ministry should probe the contractors and also the Local Government Council for the little check on the work in their district. Or doesn’t it matter that the work and used monies on a court building left unfinished?

DCIC Map

Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC):

Construction of Border Posts:

“Construct Sebagolo model border post with staff quarters), Kikagati mini border post and Ishasha mini border post” (…)”Was allocated UGX 200m and none used funds or absorbed” (…)”Sebagolo; procurement abandoned. No land title” (…)”Ishasha; procurement abandoned due to lack of structural drawings, border post building design and BoQs” (…)”Kikagati; procurement; abandoned due to lack proof of ownership of land” (P: 161).

Ministry of Affairs:

DGAL-Gulu – Delayed completion of the construction of a Regional Laboratory in Gulu:

The construction of the Regional Laboratory started on 28th January 2008 at a contract sum UGX.436,445,468 and was to be completed by 28th July, 2008 (after 22 calendar weeks)” (…)”at the time of writing this report, the construction had not been completed (after 7 years) and the site appears to have been abandoned. A total of UGX.236,330,768 (54,15%) was paid to the contractor and the building had been roofed, plastered and fitted with exterior doors and window burglars” (P: 177). Commented: They proved too been a breach of contract between the Ministry, Local Government Council and the contractors who was building on the site. These institutions should probe the contractor for delays and not finishing the building, while the government should check the history of the allocations and see why they haven’t done the work and delivered as budgeted in the past.

Police Apac 30.12.15 Go Forward Rally

Uganda Police Force:

Non-working vehicles:

“The Force had 291 and 970 uneconomical and grounded motor vehicles and motorcycles representing 27% and 28% respectively of the available fleet of 1091 motor vehicles and 3452 motor cycles” (P: 183). Comment: That such a giant part of their fleet is standing still and can’t be used for their entitled work. So it is a waste of funds and also equipment.

Land Titles:

“The budget of UGX.120m was again provided for the financial year 2014/2015, however, this was not enough to carry out the activity. This financial year (2014/15), UGX.3.7bn had been estimated to cover the surveying, titling, boundary opening, land purchase, land planning and design, compensation and inspection, however only UGX.120m was provided in the budget” (P: 185). Comment: This here prove how little the state care for police when they can’t secure funding for land in and titles for the Police Stations. Another proof of weak governance when they doesn’t care for their own civil servants.

Uganda Police Marine Unit

Police Boats:

“Police has over 40 vessels including long distance patrol boats, firefighting boats, fiber glass boats and inflatable boats deployed in the detach units on all major water bodies of Lakes Victoria, Kyoga, Albert, Edward and George. However, the Force lacks a marina at Kigo marine headquarters for safe docking and parking of major boats. As a result, some big boats are docked/parked at Lake Victoria Serena Hotel for safety purposes, while others are dry docked (parked on land) at Kigo headquarters” (P: 186).  Comment: We can see that the Police don’t have funding for the boats and to keep the upkeep of them. That proves that the Government doesn’t value the boats, since they don’t keep them in great areas.

Police Mariners staff, Post Mariners Post-Education and Fuel issues:

“Marines unit has a workforce of 197 staff with over 40 vessels. A review of the unit nominal roll revealed that only 10 staff have mechanical/technical related qualifications while 6 have qualifications in fisheries” (…)”The Accounting Officer further explained that some training is already underway both within and outside the country, and that in the current financial year, 45 staff are undergoing marine training by Korean instructors” (…)”The unit detaches are provided with 200 liters of fuel for operations per month (6.4 liters per day) and yet the fiber boats at each unit consume 20 liters per hour. According to the in-charge, each unit detach requires at least 60 liters a day which puts the fuel requirement per month to 1,800 liters for the units to effectively monitor the waters” (P: 188-191). Comment: That there are 40 vessels and only 6 have seamen education. 10 mechanical people who can fix the technical problems with the boats that the police have. Yet again, the training has to happen by donors or foreign because the government can’t be able to finance their own personnel training. That should be worrying. The last issues that the boats can be used as much they can because of the use of 20 liter per hour. They miss the 1600 liters they need to function, because they are only allocated 200 liters. Show’s a mismatch of the use of funds for this part of the UPF.

Uganda Prison Service:

Congestion:

“By June 2015, the population of prisoners stood at 45,092, exceeding the available capacity by 28,575 inmates (occupancy level is 273%). Some prisons are overcrowded, housing up to 3 times their designed holding capacities” (P: 197). Comment: The government might not be expected to deliver at hotel to the inmates in prison. But to congestion them like cattle or having housing for them that creates diseases and poor hygiene; shows that the punished people in prisons get not only time to serve as convicts, but also get conditions that makes their stay a health hazard.

Funds of Consolidated Funds:

“UGX.2,808,413,252 was reported in the statement of financial position as cash and cash equivalent at the end of the financial year. The unspent funds should have been transferred to the consolidated fund by close of the year however, UPS did not remit the funds to the condolidated fund” (P: 195). Comment: This here proves that this government outfit doesn’t have the properly functioning accounting practices since they don’t follow the laws for unused allocated funds.

Reference:

Office of the Auditor General – The Annual Report for the Year Ended 30th June 2015 – Central Government and Statutory Corporations 30th June 2015.

Two Clips on one Corruption case in Kenya: “2 million US dollars can fit into 2 standard size suitcases” & “Justice Tunoi, Whistle blower Kiplagat appear before JSC Committee” (Youtube-Clips)

“2 million US dollars can fit into 2 standard size suitcases. Kiplagat alleges Kidero bribed Justice Tunoi with 2 million dollars. 2 million US dollars would weigh about 20Kgs” (Kenya Citizen TV, 2016).

Kenya 27.01.2016

Supreme Court Judge Phllip Tunoi sought to discredit his accuser in the Sh 200 million bribery saga as he fought off allegations that could bring down his career and those of several colleagues.  Appearing before a committee probing the allegations Tunoi said an affidavit implicating him was possibly drawn by judiciary staff in an elaborate plot to end his career. As Francis Gachuri now reports Tunoi’s accuser Geoffrey Kiplagat also appeared before the committee that has until Wednesday to submit its findings” (Kenya Citizen TV, 2016).

Think, that is enough for now. Peace.

“No Peace In Uganda” – CBC’s The Journal from 1985 (Youtube-Clip)

“The Journal’s Ann Madina investigates the period in Uganda after Milton Obote is deposed in a second coup.It highlights the period when the civil war was raging in Luwero shortly before the NRA marched to Kampala” (CBC USA Footage/Clip)

“Uganda: A New Dawn Is Upon Us” (TV Commercial from Go-Forward/TDA); With thoughts on the TVC’s of Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders and Amama Mbabazi

Is this the way to sway votes or just a cheap trick to play with your mind and gain empathy towards the end of the general election from Go-Forward/TDA frontman Amama Mbabazi? I am just asking because I got far from all the answers. Because it is just interesting! To take a distance from a totally different man and his campaign TVC Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Party in the U.S.A. While saying so, let take a look:

They both play with you heart and mind. Not just showing numbers and such. They are both respectable, but which tells the story the best and using the TVC best, is it Amama or Berne? But just put it up a bit, to make your mind boggle a bit. Let’s take a look at Ted Cruz of the Republican Parties new TV ad: 

And this here is totally different. It plays more on him as politician then the two above and is less heart into it. That is why you are more moved by the Amama Message and Bernie then by Cruz. Because it is instinct. A politican either shows what he will do, what the ideas of his political message or dropping bombs on his peers and “enemies”. As Trump would do in his, he will make somebody “enemies” because it is an thing to sell, instead of selling a program. Bernie is selling social programs for society and doing it with tact and finness. Something missing from Ted Cruz. Amama has it and shows the spirit of his program, but miss the final touch that Bernie has. That is my opinion! What is yours? Peace.

The People’s President had rallies today in Kiruhura and Ibanda; while also inspecting a depleted government school in Kiruhura

Kiruhura District P.S. P3 29.01.2016

It is time again to show a campaign trail day of the FDC Campaign Convoy and Dr. Kizza Besigye, they are holding it up while the driver Fred Kato is detained and in jail. The campaign does not stop because of this. Though it is just the opposition who has to cope with that, it’s not like Mike Sebalu or Ofwono Opondo would be jailed for some nonsense, right?

Pretext to the campaign area:
“On the 6th January 2016 FDC offices in Kiruhura district were broken into by the military, the deadly illegal operation was led by an Army officer known as Major Rutakara (mrs) of Kyakabunga village, Nyakasharara sub-county, FDC materials such as Besigye Posters, T shirts, and P10 cards were confiscated” (Minbane, 06.01.2016).

Paying Boda-Boda drivers to shun the FDC rallies in Kiruhura and Ibanda:
Patrick Bitature was supposed to support men to walk around in the district to give the boda-boda drivers UGX 30k to not drive around people to the rallies in the district today. Just as they have offered before in other districts, they also used the same tactic when Go-Forward was in the area campaigning. The same strategy was used in Ibanda district where the men went around promise them a slaughtered cow if they didn’t drive people to the FDC rallies in the district. This was the promises done before the Dokita rallies in Ibanda.

Other news on opposition issues in Kiruhura district on 28th January:
A Church leader with the name of Justine Namara was thrown out of church after the congregation got to know that the leader was a supporter of Amama Mbabazi. In Kanoni town the Catholic Church Leader who was given a motorcycle by John Nasasira has been harassed by the people and the motorcycle have been withdrawn.

Kiruhura District Rushere FDC Campaign 29.01.2016

Kiruhuru district rallies didn’t start here, but he had an effective campaign rally in the town of Rushere. Where the locals even gave away NRM membership cards to the People’s President!

Kiruhura District P.S. P1 29.01.2016

Dr. Kizza Besigye between rallies in Kiruhura and Ibanda districts he visited a Primary School in Kiruhura, who was supported by funds of USAID, and now run on the Government funds, and the pictures of the school proves the local neglect from the Local Government Council and allocation to this school.

Kiruhura District P.S. P2 29.01.2016

The wave of change has not spared Kazo sub-county here in Kiruhura district.
They telling Kizza Besigye at ” Kyahweire” that he shouldn’t worry.

Kiruhura District Kazo Sub County FDC Campaign 29.01.2016

Police in Kiruhura commanded by DPC Byaruhanga has tempted to break Dr. Kizza Besigye from using a road leading him to some campaign venues claiming there is a market place; where they claim Kizza Besigye was likely to disrupt business. At Bugaruhe police was found barricaded the road using police pick up which forced Dr. Kizza Besigye to ask the why they are denying him the way. After minutes of exchange between police and FDC supporters, police later backed back and left Besigye’s convoy to proceed to the next venue. Surprisingly the place where police claimed to be the market there were no people. Meanwhile the tirn up at Besigy’s rally in Kiruhura district is overwhelming.

Byaruhanga Kiruhura District 29.01.2016

Then we see the people greeting Dr. Kizza Besigye while driving into Ibanda Town before the main rally in town! Massive show-up and turn-up for the team!

As the massive rallies in the district where coming to the end. The Calvary had to show up and show their force as they couldn’t do anything else. In Igorora where he was about to hold his last rally before heading back to Mbarara for the evening; the Police intervened and baptized the crowd in tear-gas and scattered the public who had turned up for the rally.

Ibanda Rally P1 29.01.2016 FDC

Kizza Besigye words after the rallies today:
“Kiruhura and Ibanda now better to say thank you! You made it clear to the world some of you through TV interviews like Kiruhura. And many of you through the joy and strength to sacrifice your time and resources to have us continue with this struggle we started in 2001. We thank you for the keeping the faith alive and the support. May God bless each one of you.
Kabale here we come…”

That’s enough for today. Peace.

Press Release: WorldRemit customers can now send money instantly to MTN Mobile Money wallets in Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia (28.01.2016)

MTN Logo

London, UK and Johannesburg, South AfricaWorldRemit and MTN Group today announced that WorldRemit customers can now send money instantly to MTN Mobile Money wallets in Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

The launch follows the signing of a global partnership agreement earlier this year, to enable WorldRemit customers all over the world to send international remittances to MTN’s Mobile Money customers.

“This partnership makes sense for both companies, as WorldRemit and MTN share a disruptive approach to innovation and bring impactful services to our customers. Together, we are now providing an instant, fully digital and very affordable solution to send international remittance to Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. Other countries will follow soon,” says Serigne Dioum, MTN Group Head of Mobile Financial Services.

“At WorldRemit, we are pioneering international mobile-to-mobile remittances. Our partnership with MTN allows our customers around the world to send money instantly from the WorldRemit app to MTN Mobile Money users in Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. Together with MTN, we make sending money home as easy as sending an instant message,” says Alix Murphy, Senior Mobile Analyst at WorldRemit.

She continues: “For diaspora members sending money to friends and family back home in these countries, Mobile Money is a real game-changer. In Uganda, Mobile Money has already overtaken cash pick-up and bank deposits as the preferred method to receive money. We expect this trend to continue as MTN’s Mobile Money services reach millions of people without bank accounts, giving them access to a variety of life-enhancing financial services including savings and insurance schemes.”

MTN UG

People in more than 52 countries already use the WorldRemit app to send around 400,000 money transfers every month to over 125 destinations. WorldRemit is the leading sender of remittances to Mobile Money wallets connecting to over 25 different services worldwide.

MTN Mobile Money enables users to perform utility payments, save money, purchase airtime and access a range of mobile financial products. To date, MTN Mobile Money is used by customers in 15 countries across Africa, i.e. Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia.

In keeping with its aim to accelerate the rollout of international remittance, MTN launched a cross-border mobile money transfer service between Uganda and Rwanda in August. The service allows customers in both countries to transact via MTN Mobile Money with the same simplicity as for a local money transfer. MTN also offers a mobile money cross-border remittance service between Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. The remittance corridor between Kenya and Rwanda is the latest addition to MTN’s Mobile Money bouquet of services. It forms part of a major initiative between MTN and Vodafone, to enhance financial inclusivity in East Africa.

In the six months to 30 June 2015, MTN grew mobile money subscribers by 45,8% to 32,4 million.

*NB: All figures are unaudited

 

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 30 June 2015, MTN recorded 231 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. Visit us at, www.mtnbusiness.com and www.mtn.com

Interesting findings from the AG report on “Central Government and Statutory Corporations” – Part One!

Ugandan shillings

Here I will Travers through the report of Auditor General of Uganda’s Annual Report for the year ended 30th June 2015. This is on: “CENTRAL GOVERNMENT AND STATUTORY CORPORATIONS”. I will take the quotes and stories that seem to show parts of how the Government of Uganda works and what the Auditor General have cared about addressing in this specific report. Take a look! This here is Part one!

What it contains:
“This is Volume two of my Annual Report to Parliament and it covers financial audits carried
out on Central Government Ministries, Departments, Agencies, Universities and Uganda
Missions abroad” (…)”Section 2 presents my findings and audit opinion on Government of Uganda Consolidated Financial Statements including major observations” (P: 25).

kampala road work

Nugatory expenditure:
“Government paid UGX.26.1bn during the period under review as delayed settlements of obligations arising from contracts for construction services, Court awards, and contributions to international organizations etc” (P: 34). Comment: The government has no issues wasting giant sums of settlements it seems, shouldn’t’ there be away to not use the money on these settlements?

Unsustainable pension liability:
“The Ministry of Public Service recorded an outstanding pension and gratuity liability of UGX.199,255,907,539 as at 30/6/2015 (up from UGX.108,681,159,047 as at 30/6/2014). It was noted that the gratuity and pension arrears continue to accumulate, a fact which the Accounting Officer has attributed to inadequate budgetary provisions over the years” (P: 35). Comment: There been press release from the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development during 2015 doesn’t seem like they want to fix it, instead blame the pensioners. Well, they have learned from their master right?

Understocking of the Government petroleum strategic reserves:
In 2012, the Government of Uganda and a private petroleum company entered into a concessional agreement to refurbish, restock, maintain and manage the petroleum strategic reserve facility at Jinja. Despite the concession requiring the operator to ensure that 40% (12million litres) of the storage capacity of the products is available at all times, I noted during inspection in September 2015, there was only 274,000 litres of petrol and 331,000 litres of diesel in stock compared to the required stock levels of 20,000,000 and 10,000,000 litres respectively” (P: 38). Comment: Doesn’t seem like they follow the guidelines from 2012 and proves that the Governmental agencies doesn’t follow the plans they have or have the procurement to buy what their supposed to. This here is just barely enough considering the use of oil and diesel!

JinjaRoad Roundabout Kampala

Construction of Kampala-Entebbe expressway:
“It was observed that the unit cost for the Kampala-Entebbe expressway was US$ 2.315 million per lane kilometre while the similar expressway was US$ 1.204 million per lane kilometer” (…)”This is less than half of the cost of Kampala-Entebbe Expressway which is US$.9.261 million per Km” (…)”However, a review of the services provided by the consultant’s revealed duplication of activities as the originally recruited private firm serves the same purpose as the international firm” (P: 38-39). Comment: This here has been discussed and been put out there, but still proves the misuse of funds, especially when one of the reasons is that you have two companies that have the same role on the site, instead of only one, and that adds the price per kilometer of roads.

Mismanagement of funds under the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG):
“the diverted funds revealed that UGX.3,827,011,454 remained unaccounted for and UGX.635,621,910 was questioned due to inappropriate accountabilities” (P: 39). Comment: Unaccountable use of funds is a beauty and proves that funds have been used without waivers or accounted for; where it has been used is something that we can ask, but they could by Kit-Kat bars in Masindi or extra bottle of cokes in Lira for all we know.

Abim Hospital 2014 P3

Fixed budget allocation for essential medicines and health supplies:
The annual budget allocation of UGX.218bn for essential medicines and health supplies to all health facilities across the country has remained constant since 2011/2012 despite the remarkable increase in the number of patients” (P: 42). Comment: That the money are stagnate while the amount of patience goes up shows quickly; why the hospitals doesn’t have the necessary medicine? That is the simple reason why they don’t have enough.

Regional coordination and monitoring framework for Northern Corridor Integration
Projects:
For example amounts totalling to UGX4.2bn was disbursed to fund the power interconnection and the Hoima-Lokichar-Lamu oil pipeline. However, the protocols do not provide for regional coordination and monitoring as well as the audit framework to provide an independent assurance on the utilization of joint funds” (P: 43). Comment: Money to a project that don’t have a framework for the regional coordination and can’t utilization of the funds, that means they are just sitting in the fund, without any use or monitoring it.

Compensations of Project Affected Persons (PAPS):
“Review of the compensations for the Project Affected Persons (PAPs) on the two projects of Mukono-Kyetume-Katosi road and LPC Busega revealed inconsistencies in the names of the PAPs appearing in the Chief Government Valuers report and those compensated” (…)”A sum of UGX.1.3 bn paid without resolving the inconsistencies was questionable” (P: 44-45). Comment: That already over-expensive road project that has gone over margin and had issues with the contractors of the road-building. So that the government haven’t compensated the once that lost land where the road where built. Therefore the project is even more expensive, since this will be add-ons to the ones that already registered and billed for.

Budget performance-Budget shortfall:
“21 entities budgeted to receive UGX. 2,272,017,747,273, out of which UGX. 1,481,698,945,173 was received translating into a 65% out-turn for the financial year. This left a funding gap of UGX. 790,318,802,100 (35%)” (P: 55). Comment: This here proves how the budget is underfunding and not procuring from the Ministry of Finance, Planning Economic Development (MoFPED) to deliver the cash in-due time to the projects and other state entities that supposed to get funding to do their work. The ministry with biggest shortfall was the Ministry of Energy and Mineral!

MoFPED – Payment of avoidable interest on VAT:
“It was noted that as of November, 2014, the outstanding VAT obligations for BIDCO stood at UGX.744,420,170, included in this figure was late payment interest charge of UGX.168,747,557. Accordingly, a sum of UGX.700,000,000 was paid to URA towards settlement of the tax arrears” (P: 93). Comment: Bidco got to pay less to cash to URA then expected in a settlement, instead of paying everything they needed as they hadn’t cleared in their VAT. So the government was not getting what they we’re entitled so the company of BIDCO got off cheap.

AfDB STATS

Payment of the fourth instalment under ADB Subscription:
“It was noted that the payment of Uganda’s 4th instalment of UDS.1,293,299 which became due on 16th March, 2015 had not been made. As a result, the callable shares related to the missed instalment had been suspended in line with the Board of Governors resolution on the sixth general capital increase of the bank meeting” (P: 95). Comment: This here proof that they don’t take the place in the Pan-African Bank institution, only take the loans from African Development Bank, but not taking charge in paying dues to it.

Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development (PIBID):
“It was noted that the PIBID project has been operating without an approved strategic plan. The strategic plan is supposed to guide the budgeting process by creating integrated link with the annual work plans which feed into the budget to ensure effective service delivery and achievement of set project objectives” (…)”During the financial year 2014/2015, the PIBID project had a budget provision of UGX.9bn out of which only UGX.2.7bn was released as vote on account and as a result, activities worth UGX.6,682,145,000 were not under taken. (P: 100- 103). Comment: 6,3bn was not released so that is under the double, but not triple of the ones that has procured to the PIBID.

Department of Ethics and Integrity:
“Directorate’s approved structure/establishment indicated that whereas 60 posts were approved, only 46 had been filled by the year-end leaving 14 vacant” (…)”that withholding tax amounting to UGX.4,662,524 due to URA was not withheld from seven (7) service providers and as such, funds were not remitted. Failure to withhold tax exposes the entity to a risk of penalties and interest charges by URA which may lead to nugatory expenditure” (P: 111-113). Comments: This here proves the defaults on the hiring of people in the department and also mismanage off tax.

This here must been seen as interesting; the report is big, so there is more to come. This here will be series with many pieces as the actions of government is to interesting to NOT be put on blast. Peace.

Reference:
Office of the Auditor General – The Annual Report for the Year Ended 30th June 2015 – Central Government and Statutory Corporations 30th June 2015.