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VP DONATION BUDGET

KAMPALA - Members of Parliament on the Presidential Affairs Committee have queried the sh4.283b allocated to Vice President, Jessica Alupo meant for donations in the 2024/25 budget.

This after some MPs accused the Vice President of failing to fulfill the pledges made in their constituencies on grounds that her office has no funds, which prompted the committee to have the funds transferred to the State House.

The committee chaired by Jessica Ababiku rejected the Office of the President Permanent Secretary, Yunus Kakande’s defence for the donation budget.

“The office of the Vice president is also an Executive Office in this country and the Vice President according to the constitution is representing the President and when they represent the President, they have to cater for some of those donations. There is no way when the Vice President goes to Moyo and then there is a secondary school that needs construction and they lack money and they fail to contribute to that construction. So, that is why it was decided by the top executive that equally the office of the Vice President be given donation budget,” Kakande said. 

Kakande’s submission met resistance from Isaiah Sasaga (Budadiri East) who insisted, “If donations are to be utilized by the Vice President, then in most cases they aren’t. She came to Budadiri Girls School and promised to donate computers, but she didn’t, then she came back and promised to fence the school and the school is still open. We have gone to that office several times and they said they promised but they don’t have money. That means in most cases, this money is put here for eating. That is why we should get those donations and place them in the rightful place.”  

The committee said the money would be subject to wasteful expenditure.

“MPs are saying this is wasteful expenditure. Let us take this to State House, and when we get State House here, we want this to be differentiated so that we are able to monitor and facilitate both the President and Vice President.

Under State House, we have a full provision for donations and State House says their mandate is to ensure that the President and Vice president are fully facilitated so it us to ensure that this is moved and the two are catered for,” Ababiku ruled.