Premier office ‘blocked’ tools check
Oct 28, 2007
OFFICIALS from the Prime Minister’s office denied the Uganda National Bureau of Standards access to inspect the controversial farm implements that were given to displaced persons in the north, MPs have heard.
By Mary Karugaba
OFFICIALS from the Prime Minister’s office denied the Uganda National Bureau of Standards access to inspect the controversial farm implements that were given to displaced persons in the north, MPs have heard.
The bureau executive director, Terry Kahuma, recently told MPs on the commissions and state enterprises that the officers said Uganda was a poor country, where quality of donations was not important and inspection a waste of time.
As a result, the implements were released to the displaced persons without the bureau’s clearance, Kahuma added.
“Our officer was denied access even when she was present at the venue. In such circumstances, there was nothing much we could do,†Kahuma said.
The hoes, sickles and axes, were a donation from the Chinese and imported by Beijing Invention Technology.
Tendo Zainah, an inspector with the standards bureau, named the officials who blocked her as Were from the Prime Minister’s Office and Fagayo, a clearing agent.
In a report, she noted that despite resistance from the officials, some tools were inspected and found to be very weak and others lacked the manufacturers’ names and trade marks.
“The inspected items were forwarded to the laboratory for analysis and they all failed to meet the test standards,†the report stated.
“We notified the Uganda Revenue Authority officer-in charge of Transami Inland Container Depot not to release the consignment until laboratory results were released and clearance issued.
“He, however, ignored the notification and released the consignment without our clearance,†Zainah reported.
“These people should be brought to book. We are going to summon them. How can they say we are poor and therefore should allow poor quality goods,†said MP John Odit.
OFFICIALS from the Prime Minister’s office denied the Uganda National Bureau of Standards access to inspect the controversial farm implements that were given to displaced persons in the north, MPs have heard.
The bureau executive director, Terry Kahuma, recently told MPs on the commissions and state enterprises that the officers said Uganda was a poor country, where quality of donations was not important and inspection a waste of time.
As a result, the implements were released to the displaced persons without the bureau’s clearance, Kahuma added.
“Our officer was denied access even when she was present at the venue. In such circumstances, there was nothing much we could do,†Kahuma said.
The hoes, sickles and axes, were a donation from the Chinese and imported by Beijing Invention Technology.
Tendo Zainah, an inspector with the standards bureau, named the officials who blocked her as Were from the Prime Minister’s Office and Fagayo, a clearing agent.
In a report, she noted that despite resistance from the officials, some tools were inspected and found to be very weak and others lacked the manufacturers’ names and trade marks.
“The inspected items were forwarded to the laboratory for analysis and they all failed to meet the test standards,†the report stated.
“We notified the Uganda Revenue Authority officer-in charge of Transami Inland Container Depot not to release the consignment until laboratory results were released and clearance issued.
“He, however, ignored the notification and released the consignment without our clearance,†Zainah reported.
“These people should be brought to book. We are going to summon them. How can they say we are poor and therefore should allow poor quality goods,†said MP John Odit.