Luzira Awaits, I Have Evidence: Museveni Unleashes Fury On Ministers At Kyankwanzi , Vows to Bring Corrupt Officials to Justice

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At the recent Kyankwazi retreat, President Museveni’s anger was triggered when a presenter defended Parliament and criticized Ministers and Permanent Secretaries during the Thursday session.

The President was taken aback by the official’s vigorous defense of Parliament, which he found peculiar and misinformed.The high-ranking official (names withheld) sparked off the President’s anger when he used his presentation time to dispute widespread belief that corruption is rampant among some Members of the 11th Parliament.

The high ranking official, oblivious of the fact that the President was deeply convinced that anything that can go wrong at a public institution has happened at the Ugandan Parliament, defended MPs by claiming that the Ministers and their Permanent Secretaries shared even larger blame.

The official claimed that Ministers and PSs failed to take their Ministerial Policy Statements seriously, often submitting outdated policies to Parliament. They also took issue with MPs asking tough questions during Committee sessions, which they saw as merely repeating the Auditor General’s findings.

The official urged the President to hold Ministers and PSs accountable rather than just blaming Parliament. However, the President was unconvinced, having already made up his mind about corruption in Parliament.

The President’s anger was palpable, and he told the official to “shut up and sit down,” ending the presentation abruptly. The official’s defense of Parliament fell flat, and their argument was met with disdain. The incident highlights the tension between the Executive and Parliament on the issue of corruption, with the President determined to crack down on corrupt officials.

On Thursday, President Museveni, clearly intrigued and itching to speak back, didn’t even allow the official to finish his submission. He ordered him to ‘shut up and sit down’ because, as far as he is concerned, there was no truth in what the official was saying.

Gen Museveni said there was no need to be defensive because the retreat was purposed on agreeing on what has gone wrong with the war against corruption and charting a way forward on how to redirect things and do better.The President, according to sources at the retreat, maintained that there was plenty of well-evidenced corruption practices among MPs, and he has firm evidence to that effect.

Gen Museveni said he had taken his time to verify, now has a lot of information, and his view, which won’t be changing soon, is that there is no way the battle against institutionalized corruption in Uganda can be won without the whip being decisively cracked while targeting the corrupt at Parliament.

Before the retreat, Gen Museveni had famously accused actors at Parliament of being responsible for the diversion of roughly Shs10trn in the last 3 FYs.This was contained in his recent letter, which directed Parliament to reallocate up to Shs750bn under the new FY2024/2025 budget.

Unknown to the pro-Parliament official, the President had prior to the Kyankwanzi retreat heard from several Permanent Secretaries and Accounting Officers from the different MDAs shocking stories and confessions on how MPs successfully extort billions of shillings from them as Accounting Officers every FY.

That influential actors at Parliament will influence enlargement of a given entity’s budget on condition that a fraction of the increment becomes sweeteners for them to line their tummies.Influential Parliament members conditionally approve budget increments, demanding a share of the increase as “sweeteners” for themselves.

Accounting Officers and Permanent Secretaries confided in the President that they struggle to fabricate justifications for the billions diverted to Parliament. They revealed that some Parliament members are greedy and treacherous, volunteering information to auditors and demanding bribes to facilitate cover-ups.

This leads to stressful situations where service delivery is sacrificed as Accounting Officers scramble to meet the demands of both Parliament and auditors.The President rebuked the pro-Parliament official, telling him to stop speaking about what he didn’t know enough about.

The official left Kyankwanzi in shame, missing the photo session and without eating. His defense of Parliament had backfired, and he was publicly humiliated. The President’s stance on corruption in Parliament remained unwavering, and the incident only served to reinforce his resolve to tackle corruption head-on.

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