By Mary Karugaba
and Milton Olupot

OFFICIALS of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) were yesterday thrown out of the public accounts committee for failure to explain how $5m (about sh10b) was taken out of a Chinese loan to fund CHOGM activities.

The committee heard that the $5m was given to security agencies to purchase the terrestrial trunked radio system (TETRA) but was never declared to the Auditor General.

TETRA network was required to provide communication services to the security agencies that were involved in CHOGM preparations.

The officers, led by the permanent secretary, Jimmy Saamanya, insisted that the money was provided by the Chinese government under the $106m national data transmission backbone infrastructure and e-government Infrastructure.

However, the committee chairman, Nandala Mafabi, told them that the original documents for the loan do not contain the CHOGM component.

“I have the original agreement. Both the economy and the ICT committees do not remember seeing this figure. How then was it smuggled in?” he asked.

MP David Bahati, who is also a member of the committee that approved the loan, revealed that their committees approved the loan without the component.

“I sit on both committees. The PS should not mislead the committee. We never saw those figures,” he said.

When the questions became tough, Saamanya, passed them onto the director of communications, Eng. Godfrey Kibuuka, the then acting PS.

Asked whether he presented the loan before the economy committee, Kibuuka said: “I can’t remember whether I personally came but I know the ministry was represented.”

The members immediately demanded that Kibuuka be put on oath, saying he was concealing information. All loan requests to Parliament must be presented by the sector ministers and the permanent secretaries.

After the oath, Kibuka asked the committee for more time to look at the loan request.

MPs Henry Banyenzaki, Tom Kazibwe, Oduman Okello, Theodore Ssekikubo and Mafabi wondered how Kibuka could have forgotten the content of the documents, yet he was the main signatory.

While appearing before the committee earlier this month, Saamanya explained that the money was given to the security agencies, headed by the Inspector General of Police, whom he said should be asked to explain.