Mbaguta quizzed over botched sh15b market project

 

 

Appearing before the committee on behalf of the secretary to treasury, Keith Muhakanizi, to answer queries arising from the Auditor General’s report for the financial year ending June 2011, Mbaguta denied that colossal sums used to be disbursed to ghost beneficiaries in non-existent upcountry markets as the project turned into a cash bonanza.

 

“We had no intention of stealing and distorting the intention of the program. When the audit report came out, there was need to verify it and we carried out the verification exercise involving all market leaders and we never paid colossal sums to ghost entities,” he told the committee, chaired by the Terego MP, Kassiono Wadri.

 

Asked why the ministry carried out poorly planned regional workshops in terms of their timing and disbursement of funds which did not adequately help the beneficiaries in understanding the purpose and management of funds, Mbaguta quipped: “I need to discuss with the permanent secretary before I pronounce myself on this issue. Some of these are policy matters which can only be handled by the permanent secretary.”

 

He added: “I’m not hiding anything or protecting anyone. Please allow me discuss these issues with the permanent secretary and return next time with answers,” he said to the chagrin of the committee.

 

“We can’t excuse you; you’re the liaison officer in microfinance and you even told us that you’re here to speak on behalf of Muhakanizi and even carried files with you. Can you then explain?” Wadri asked.

 

When Mbaguta remained silent for some time and refused to answer Wadri’s question, MPs decided to give him the best of doubt and asked to appear next time with Muhakanizi ready to respond to all queries by the Auditor General.

 

“Let’s allow him to go back because we can’t flog a dead horse. We should give him the benefit of doubt,” the Palisa County MP, Jacob Opolot appealed to his colleagues.

 

On Tuesday, members of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC) who drafted the concept paper upon which the project was conceived told legislators that the finance ministry and Microfinance Support Centre (MSC) Ltd “hijacked” the project the moment it became bankable, excluding them from its implementation and ultimately mismanaging it.

 

Although the report does not directly implicate the former MSC boss Wandira Kazibwe, together with fisheries minister, Ruth Nankabirwa and then Finance Minister, Syda Bbumba, members of JSC accused the trio, together with bureaucrats at the finance ministry and MSC of intentionally elbowing them out during the implementation stage.

 

 This they, said, resulted into "outright fraud" as officials in the finance ministry and MSC  inflated lists of intended beneficiaries and sometimes paid colossal sums to ghost entities as the project went off rails.

 

"When it came to implementation, finance ministry and MSC shunted us aside. They said we couldn't handle. When we asked them how they intended to implement the project, we were informed that Resident District Commissioners and SACCOS were going to be used to channel funds to beneficiaries," said the JSC chairman, Sam Lyomoki, adding, "We abandoned the project and informed the President about it."

 

He told MPs that some of the minutes in meetings with MSC and finance ministry were "doctored" binding them to positions which they were against, while some were "out rightly forged."

 

In his report, the Auditor General highlighted a slew of accountability flaws ranging from falsified accountabilities, inflation of lists of beneficiaries to payment of funds to ghost beneficiaries.

 

The auditor noted that lists of beneficiaries were inflated, while the project lost billions of money as bureaucrats in implementing agencies paid colossal sums to ghost entities (markets).

 

He, for example, noted that sh662m was paid to Kampala United Park Yard Cooperative SACCO by MSC for various market beneficiaries.

 

The presidential initiative started in 2010 to create a revolving fund to help the poorest of the poor in markets around the country access loans at no interest.