The National Assembly’s Presidential Affairs Committee, chaired by Adjumani MP Jesca Ababiku , today met with Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja Musafiiri on the issue of iron sheets that were supposed to be transported to Karamoja.
In his defence, he denied being one of the recipients of the iron sheets, telling the committee that he received 500 iron sheets from the Ministry of Bunyoro He also said he took them to his constituency of Kakumiro where other MPs from the constituency also got beaten.
Nabbanja said she was the first to receive information about the iron sheets and distribute them and due to lack of media coverage the message was left to them, and that they started investigating.
The Prime Minister also informed the committee that he has put in place various measures to combat the misuse of relief items , including iron sheets and other items and this includes the colors affixed to these items along with other labels.
According to Nabbanja, in the 2021/22 financial year, it received additional funds of which 7,164,996,934 billion ugx was spent for the purchase of 95,044 28-gauge iron sheets.
He also pointed out the various ministries that purchased the iron sheets including Karamoja, Teso, Bunyoro, Northen Uganda , Luweero Rwenzori, and others.
The Karamoja iron sheets were purchased on the orders of the President as part of the program to help the Karamoja people stabilize and establish peace in their area.
The iron sheets were to be given to former combatants as well as their families who are in need and widows who lost their husbands in the fighting in the area.
Nabanja said the iron sheets were to be distributed to 3, 339 people with 26 bricks each and the iron sheets were expected to buy 86,814 iron sheets, but they bought 95,044 iron sheets as a result of direct purchases from brick producing companies.
The number of beneficiaries also increased to 3,6 The beneficiaries of the gan9 iron sheets would be brought by their leaders including district councilors and MPs.
Nabbanja said the process of identifying the beneficiaries of the scheme took a long time as each leader showed that his people were left behind and other things.
Three districts namely Nakapiripiriti, Kalenga and Moroto received the funds and took them to their owners.
The Prime Minister told the committee that according to his current resources, Minister Mary Gorreti Kituttu had requested for iron sheets twice and these included those received by various leaders, but the final list of beneficiaries has not been released.
He also urged the various agencies involved in the investigation not to distribute the information they have collected at this time as it is dispersing the country because it is not yet full.
Nabanja advised that the unused iron sheets distributed to the leaders should be returned as some have done, while others that can be traced back to other ministries because they still have unused iron sheets returned to Karamoja.
He also apologized to the nation for the incident and said the ministry had started a process to amend the laws and regulations on various items and that today’s incident had taught them a lesson.
Nabanja on the monitoring of senior ministers said she could not monitor them as children and that adults, in the same background and education have many but monitor them in different ways and reports they produce.
By Dan mugula