Most people including journalists did not pay much attention when the Speaker of Parliament the Rt. Hon. Anitah Annet Among acknowledged that some MPs ‘acted as mercenaries’ during the probe by the sectoral committee on Tourism, Trade and Industry which investigated the alleged misuse of a supplementary budget for the year 2021/2022 by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC).
The Speaker, just like any other clear-headed person probably wondered why the committee led by Mbarara City South MP Hon. Mwine Mpaka never picked up any single achievement by the MTIC Permanent Secretary Mrs Geraldine Ssali Busuulwa who has been in office for the past three years.
When she appeared before the committee she highlighted a number of positives and achievements she has registered amidst glaring challenges but the report never picked out any but rather focused on baseless allegations which definitely prompted the Speaker to acknowledge the mercenary-like approach of her MPs.
This comes at a time when there are reports of people in various government departments who connive with some members who sit on various parliamentary committees to soil other people’s names with the aim of character assassination!
In this case, Mrs Ssali invited the committee to her ministry’s office at Farmers’ House to see the furniture procured and indeed they saw the furniture but in the report, they indicated that she never bought the furniture!
In her wisdom, refurbishing and renovating the ministry’s office was a much cheaper option than moving to a new building which cost the ministry Sh8b annually and in the process she saved Sh80b taxpayers money!
All this and many others were not mentioned in Hon. Mpaka’s report which prompts one to wonder including the Speaker of Parliament why the MPs acted like mercenaries to recommend the sacking of Mrs. Ssali!
In our next edition, we shall reveal how exactly the MPs on these committees act and indeed if the Speaker does not step up to tame her MPs, the corruption in the house is about to reach an unmanageable stage.
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