Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga yesterday directed the committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) to investigate the Shs 6bn paid to 42 public officers for winning a tax arbitration case between government and Heritage Oil and Gas Limited.
The directive followed Wednesday’s adoption of Mbarara municipality MP Michael Tusiime’s motion for parliament to investigate the bonus payments, which have been christened “presidential handshake”.
We have been told that allocating the investigation to Cosase instead of a special select committee was the compromise position resulting from a series of meetings between Kadaga and government officials, including President Museveni.
On Tuesday, Museveni, who had wanted to stop the parliamentary investigation, told NRM MPs that he had met with Kadaga and agreed on “a way forward.”
Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa confirmed to The Observer yesterday that the executive had indeed ‘implored’ Kadaga not to create a special committee to carry out the investigation.
“Parliament already has its accountability committees and we can’t complain that they have failed to perform. By giving them this investigation, we are helping them to build capacity and also get experience,” Nankabirwa said.
Cosase is one of the four accountability committees which, according to parliament’s rules of procedure, is supposed to be chaired by a member selected by the opposition. Some MPs had wanted the investigation to be done by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), fearing that Bukedea Woman MP Anita Among’s closeness to Museveni might compromise Cosase.
Among deputizes Abdu Katuntu on the committee. An NRM MP who did not want to be named told The Observer that Museveni and the executive’s opposition to a select committee was based on wrong information.
But Nankabirwa said that having one of the accountability committees taking up the investigations had been the government position long before Museveni came in.
“You remember that time I took [URA commissioner general, Doris] Akol and her team to meet [Kadaga]? It was in that meeting that I, MosesAli [first deputy prime minister] and Bahati [David, state minister for Planning] asked her to give the investigation to one of the established accountability committees,” Nankabirwa said.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The committee’s investigation will be guided by six terms of reference. The first is to investigate claims that public officers solicited for a payment, honorarium, bonus or golden handshake totaling Shs 6 billion from the president contrary to standard practices of rewarding public officers.
Secondly, they will investigate the basis of determination of beneficiaries of the bonus payments, including a full account of the role each played in the court case.
Thirdly, they will examine whether all the proper and legal procedures under the laws of Uganda were followed in making the alleged payments. The committee will also scrutinize all supplementary requests and other budget allocations provided to the public officers in facilitating the court processes in Uganda and abroad.
In addition, the committee will investigate the management of all monies so far received by government in the petroleum fund. Lastly, the committee will interrogate any other matters related to the “handshake” and make policy recommendations for the sound management of public finances.
On Wednesday, Attorney General William Byaruhanga tried to block Tusiime’s motion, reasoning that it was within the president’s mandate to give the handshake but he was overruled by Kadaga who argued that the debate was equally within parliament’s roles.
sadabkk@observer.ug
namuloki16@gmail.com