Mbonye Admits Irregularities In Chopper Deal

By Anne Mugisa and Milton Olupot THE Secretary to the President's Office, Dr. Ben Mbonye, yesterday conceded that there were irregularities in the purchase of the MI-24 combat helicopters. He accepted responsibility. Mbonye, Secretary for Defence when the junk helicopter gunships were procured, however, denied that the mess was due to corruption. He blamed it on the failure in the procurement systems. Mbonye was yesterday wrapping up his testimony before the commission of inquiry into the purchase of the helicopters in which the Government lost US$6.5m. "I take responsibility for the mess in my capacity as the chief executive, but we made a lot of efforts, we really had difficulties, but as a leader one would take responsibility for the lapses in procedure, we did err in a number of areas," Mbonye said. Ssebutinde said the commission had faced problems because responsible officers did not want to accept blame. "I would have been happy if the responsible people came here and said this is what happened and this went wrong and apologised for it," Ssebutinde said. The Commission, which opened public hearings on April 17, closed them yesterday. It will hand in its report on July 31. Ssebutinde said she had heard complaints that President Yoweri Museveni was not treated like other witnesses. She said the commission was acting according to the Constitution. See verbatim. Ends