Kazinda must face PAC - Mbabazi

The Prime Minister said the embattled principal accountant in the Office of the Prime Minister should heed summons from the parliamentary committee.

Kampala

As controversy continues to brew on whether or not the embattled principal accountant and key suspect in the scam at the Office of the Prime Minister should appear before the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi yesterday said this was not debatable.

Addressing a press conference at his office yesterday, Mr Mbabazi insisted that Mr Geoffrey Kazinda, just like any other person, must appear before the committee to answer any queries that would put to him. “Kazinda not appearing before PAC? Why not? Everybody should appear before PAC including me,” Mr Mbabazi said.

There has been debate on whether Mr Kazinda should appear before PAC, with the committee insisting that it must interview him while the permanent secretary in the OPM, Mr Pius Bigirimana, argued that the appearance of the former principal accountant would violate the sub-judice rule.

After exchanging letters with the Solicitor General, the Prisons chief and Mr Bigirimana, PAC was informed that Mr Kazinda would not be produced before the committee because this would prejudice the court case already preferred against him.

The committee suspects that Mr Bigirimana might have connived with others in government to obstruct justice. The Speaker, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, last week said Mr Kazinda must appear before Parliament just like other witnesses. The government also announced yesterday that it had held back the disbursement of funds to its agencies until the mess at the OPM is sorted out.

Mr Mbabazi regretted the theft of funds in his office and said they had instituted checks and the culprits were being prosecuted to ensure donor money is not abused again. He added that he had ordered a forensic audit of all the major expenditure to ascertain whether the problem was only with the prime minister’s office or other government agencies.

“The cutting of aid is regrettable and on behalf of government, we regret this but also undertook all measures to close whichever flaws there is,” Mr Mbabazi said. “I hope to meet the Ministry of Finance, the President and Cabinet to see how we can readjust the national budget to analyse the impact of donor cuts and see how to minimise the harmful impact of the suspension.”

Speaking about his recent five-day trip to Italy, Mr Mbabazi said he invited investors to Uganda and he was overwhelmed by their response. He also defended the role of the minister in the recently approved Petroleum Exploration Development and Production Act, saying the oil resource “is very safe in the hands of the government”.

mnalugo@ug.nationmedia.com