Museveni Team Accountability Ready Soon

PRESIDENT-elect Yoweri Museveni, will soon submit to the Electoral Commission accountability for all monies received and spent during the campaign period, reports Felix Osike. A statement signed by secretary to the task force Moses Byaruhanga, said the Sunday Monitor story alleging that Museveni spent sh25b was, "false, alarming and misleading." He said Museveni's expenditure was less than sh25b. "We are in the process of balancing our books and shall submit to the Electoral Commission a return of all the assistance we obtained within 30 days," said Byaruhanga. Section 20, subsection 7 (a) of the Presidential Elections Act 2000, says each candidate shall within 30 days after the elections, account to the Commission for the facilitation given to him. The deadline for submission of returns is April 12, 2001. The Commission gave sh17.5m to each of the six candidates for the campaigns. Besides they were also given brand new Toyota vehicles and security. The Act also says the candidate shall submit a return to the Commission disclosing all assistance obtained by the candidate from any source within or outside the country. The candidates were allowed to source for their own funds but not from Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan, which were declared hostile to Uganda. The penalty for failure to provide accountability or making false statements is a fine not exceeding sh2.4m or a jail sentence not exceeding three years. Byaruhanga said information on all monies spent would be made public soon. "We believe The Monitor's intention is to create a rift between the National Task Force and supporters of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who sacrificed their resources and the time to supplement the scarce resources our candidate had," read the statement. The story quoting an anonymous source said some leading personalities in the task force diverted campaign money and banked it in their personal accounts, but Byaruhanga challenged the Monitor to name the culprits. Ends