CHOGM probe team to meet Museveni

Jan 08, 2010

<b>MPs probe Basajja titles</b><br>The week started with shocking news that the Government had offerd controversial city businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba sh32b in compensation for the botched deals involving Nakasero Market and Constitution Square.

MPs probe Basajja titles
The week started with shocking news that the Government had offerd controversial city businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba sh32b in compensation for the botched deals involving Nakasero Market and Constitution Square. BAsajjabalaba reportedly declined the offer and demanded for sh100b. Now MPs want the Attorney General to explain the claims. Abdu Katuntu, the chairman of the local government public accounts committee, on Tuesday said he had written to the Minister of Finance, Syda Bbumba, demanding an explanation. The finance minister, Katuntu said, referred him to the Attorney General who handles the Government’s legal matters. Katuntu vowed that whoever authorised the compensation would be held responsible for any financial loss that would result from the deal.

CHOGM probe team to meet PRESIDENT Museveni
The parliamentary committee probing the mismanagement of funds for the 2007 Commonwealth summit (CHOGM) intends to interview President Yoweri Museveni. Members of the public accounts committee want the President to clarify on allegations that he authorised some of the expenditures. The committee chairman, Nandala Mafabi told journalists that a number of implicated Government officials alleged that the President authorised them to undertake certain expenditures. “We plan to meet the President and ask him to clarify on a number of issues raised by officials. A number of officials are now using the President’s name to cover up for their crimes,” he said.

Parliament blamed for NSSF mess
Parliament should be blamed for the financial mismanagement in the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Reagan Okumu, the chairman of the commissions and statutory enterprises committee said on Wednesday. He said Parliament failed in its oversight role by not reviewing the fund’s audited accounts for the last 16 years. “Although there are so many parties to blame for the financial mismanagement of the NSSF funds, Parliament did not pay attention to the recommendations by the Auditor General and take action,” Okumu said. He noted that most of the financial scandals would not have been discovered had it not been for the Temangalo controversy that forced Parliament to investigate the activities of the fund.

Land Bill passes into Law
This week also saw the controversial Land Amendment Bill assented to by the President, completing the Parliamentary cycle of passing it into law. President Yoweri Museveni on Tuesday signed the Land Amendment Bill that was recently passed by Parliament. Speaking at the signing ceremony at his country home in Rwakitura, the President said he was happy with the amended law because it will protect people from illegal evictions. He, however, noted that he does not support the idea of taxing idle land, as had been proposed in the draft land policy. The tax, according to proposals by international consultants, is meant to compel land owners who cannot develop their land to release it to those who can develop it. It wants to encourage land utilisation and deter speculative accumulation of land. But Museveni told the Government mobilisation team who witnessed the signing ceremony that he did not agree with the idea.

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