MPs insist govt must recover sh1 trillion
Oct 24, 2007
THE Ministry of Finance should release a list of the individuals and companies that have failed to pay back Government loans worth sh1.2 trillion, the Parliament has demanded. The MPs on the public accounts committee on Tuesday rejected any proposal by the Government to write off the debts.
By Mary Karugaba
THE Ministry of Finance should release a list of the individuals and companies that have failed to pay back Government loans worth sh1.2 trillion, the Parliament has demanded. The MPs on the public accounts committee on Tuesday rejected any proposal by the Government to write off the debts.
“We shall not write off the money. The companies should refund it or the Government auctions their property,†said the committee chairman, Nandala Mafabi.
The Auditor General also reported that the sh1.2 trillion loaned to some private companies, had not been paid. The money is considered irrecoverable, pending parliamentary approval to be written off as bad debts.
The MPs demanded that the ministry explains why sh221b of the loans to private enterprises were not recorded in the books of accounts.
“This is taxpayers’ money which should not be wasted. You may recall that loans given to farmers under the Rural Development Scheme under the Uganda Commercial Bank were collected,†Mafabi said.
The MPs further demanded for the original agreements signed between the Government and the borrowers, as well as copies of the demand notes, the responses and the criteria used to select the beneficiaries. Mafabi said they were still scrutinising the Auditor General’s report and would summon the concerned accounting officers.
He added that the committee had formed a sub-committee to handle the complaints from the public.
Its members include Reagan Okumu (chairman) Peter Mutuluza, Oliver Wonekha and Albert Oduman.
THE Ministry of Finance should release a list of the individuals and companies that have failed to pay back Government loans worth sh1.2 trillion, the Parliament has demanded. The MPs on the public accounts committee on Tuesday rejected any proposal by the Government to write off the debts.
“We shall not write off the money. The companies should refund it or the Government auctions their property,†said the committee chairman, Nandala Mafabi.
The Auditor General also reported that the sh1.2 trillion loaned to some private companies, had not been paid. The money is considered irrecoverable, pending parliamentary approval to be written off as bad debts.
The MPs demanded that the ministry explains why sh221b of the loans to private enterprises were not recorded in the books of accounts.
“This is taxpayers’ money which should not be wasted. You may recall that loans given to farmers under the Rural Development Scheme under the Uganda Commercial Bank were collected,†Mafabi said.
The MPs further demanded for the original agreements signed between the Government and the borrowers, as well as copies of the demand notes, the responses and the criteria used to select the beneficiaries. Mafabi said they were still scrutinising the Auditor General’s report and would summon the concerned accounting officers.
He added that the committee had formed a sub-committee to handle the complaints from the public.
Its members include Reagan Okumu (chairman) Peter Mutuluza, Oliver Wonekha and Albert Oduman.