Parliament Commissioners Beg for More Time to Account for Shs 3.4Bn

Members of Parliament (MPs) sitting on the committee of Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) have expressed disappointment with the Parliament Commission for failure to avail backing documents for monies worth Shs 3.4 billion that were spent in advances.

The commissioners were on Wednesday asked to exit the committee room after they failed to provide necessary documentation supporting the explanations that they had given regarding the expenditure of the funds.

They assured the legislators that they would be able to process and avail all the evidence before the committee today. However, when they appeared on Thursday, they requested a period of two more weeks to organize the documents and get back to the committee.

“Honourable Members, we are requesting for more time, we have all the necessary documents but we need time to compile them and return to the committee within two weeks,” Ogwang requested.

Ogwang said that it shouldn’t be taken that the commission has failed to account for the said money, but that all they needed was more time to put together the evidence.

After several members expressed disappointment, the committee chairperson, MP Abdul Katuntu ruled to grant the request but warned that the commission should avail the necessary documents by February 27.

The COSASE members were probing into queries raised by the Auditor General for the previous financial years since 2013/14 relating to non-compliance with treasury accounting instructions.

In her explanation yesterday, Jane Kibirige, the Parliament Clerk said that the advance payment was as a result of the Commission’s field based activities across the country such as committee field trips.

The team was further tasked to account for the money given to MPs for trips abroad after it emerged that some MPs receive the money but do not travel for the said purpose.