Holland withholds sh10b over CHOGM
Mar 07, 2011
THE Dutch government has withheld Euros 3.2m (about sh10.1b) in budgetary support over government’s failure to punish officials who were implicated in the mismanagement of the CHOGM funds.
By Macrines Nyapendi
THE Dutch government has withheld Euros 3.2m (about sh10.1b) in budgetary support over government’s failure to punish officials who were implicated in the mismanagement of the CHOGM funds.
The money is part of the Euros 8m (about sh25.2b) that Dutch minister for European Union affairs and international cooperation had approved as budget support for the Justice, Law and Order sector (JLOS).
In a February 17 letter to the permanent secretary of the finance ministry, Chris Kassami, Dutch ambassador Jeroen Verheul wrote: “I regret to inform you that given the conclusions of the recent assessment, the Netherlands will not be able to disburse the second tranche of Euros 3.2m.â€
“The assessment concludes that the precondition on corruption has not been met for the second year in a row. However, the specific basis for the decision not to disburse is the limited progress on the implementation of the CHOGM action plan,†read the letter.
Verheul further wrote: “We conclude that the Government of Uganda did not meet its commitment in a number of important areas: taking administrative sanctions against responsible officials, prosecution of high level cases of corruption and recovery of the misappropriated funds.â€
The letter was copied to the chairman of the public accounts committee, Nandala Mafabi. However, Mafabi said he had not received the letter because he was out of office.
Last week, ethics and integrity minister Dr. James Nsaba Buturo asked the Dutch government and other donors with a similar mindset to give the Government the benefit of doubt.
“We have just come from elections. The political dust is settling down and the Government will get to work again. Patience is, therefore, required. There is renewed commitment to fight corruption and the President has said so. They (donors) should not act in haste,†Buturo remarked.
The Dutch government contributes 10% of the total budget support. The money withheld is about 10% of the total CHOGM loss of $44m according to the donors.
The donors had given the Government up to December 2010 to implement the CHOGM action plan to recover the money and prosecute those involved in the scam.
On two occasions, the President said those who were implicated would be prosecuted.
Paul Gadenya, the JLOS technical adviser, said the move would paralyse the sector and hoped that the government gives them money for continuity.
He explained: “As a sector, we have been giving technical assistance to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Inspector General of Government to carry out the investigations and eventually prosecute the guilty officials. Over 20 cases are being worked on and I expect them to bring some cases to the court soon.â€
Gadenya added that: “Unfortunately, the pace had been slow as per the donors’ expectation; to have a good case in court, the investigations must be thoroughly done.â€
Last year, the UK government also withheld some funds over CHOGM.
THE Dutch government has withheld Euros 3.2m (about sh10.1b) in budgetary support over government’s failure to punish officials who were implicated in the mismanagement of the CHOGM funds.
The money is part of the Euros 8m (about sh25.2b) that Dutch minister for European Union affairs and international cooperation had approved as budget support for the Justice, Law and Order sector (JLOS).
In a February 17 letter to the permanent secretary of the finance ministry, Chris Kassami, Dutch ambassador Jeroen Verheul wrote: “I regret to inform you that given the conclusions of the recent assessment, the Netherlands will not be able to disburse the second tranche of Euros 3.2m.â€
“The assessment concludes that the precondition on corruption has not been met for the second year in a row. However, the specific basis for the decision not to disburse is the limited progress on the implementation of the CHOGM action plan,†read the letter.
Verheul further wrote: “We conclude that the Government of Uganda did not meet its commitment in a number of important areas: taking administrative sanctions against responsible officials, prosecution of high level cases of corruption and recovery of the misappropriated funds.â€
The letter was copied to the chairman of the public accounts committee, Nandala Mafabi. However, Mafabi said he had not received the letter because he was out of office.
Last week, ethics and integrity minister Dr. James Nsaba Buturo asked the Dutch government and other donors with a similar mindset to give the Government the benefit of doubt.
“We have just come from elections. The political dust is settling down and the Government will get to work again. Patience is, therefore, required. There is renewed commitment to fight corruption and the President has said so. They (donors) should not act in haste,†Buturo remarked.
The Dutch government contributes 10% of the total budget support. The money withheld is about 10% of the total CHOGM loss of $44m according to the donors.
The donors had given the Government up to December 2010 to implement the CHOGM action plan to recover the money and prosecute those involved in the scam.
On two occasions, the President said those who were implicated would be prosecuted.
Paul Gadenya, the JLOS technical adviser, said the move would paralyse the sector and hoped that the government gives them money for continuity.
He explained: “As a sector, we have been giving technical assistance to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Inspector General of Government to carry out the investigations and eventually prosecute the guilty officials. Over 20 cases are being worked on and I expect them to bring some cases to the court soon.â€
Gadenya added that: “Unfortunately, the pace had been slow as per the donors’ expectation; to have a good case in court, the investigations must be thoroughly done.â€
Last year, the UK government also withheld some funds over CHOGM.