Parliament committee forced to meet in church

The Parliamentary Committee on Public Service and Local Government was at the weekend forced to hold its session from a church in Apac after the members were denied access to the district council hall.
The committee is in the region to visit Otuke, Alebtong and Apac districts as part of their investigations into failure by some retired civil servants to receive their pension.
Ms Betty Engola, a member of the committee, on Monday said when they arrived at the council hall, they were told that it had already been booked.

“We were blocked from accessing the district boardroom hall. The district speaker told us that some NGO was holding a meeting in the hall and they sent us to a room that could hold less than 20 people. That was a very bad sign,” she said.

The relocation
Ms Engola, who is also Apac District Woman MP, said they had to relocate to St Thomas Church of Uganda behind the district headquarters that could accommodate the big number of pensioners and civil servants with complaints.
Attempts to speak to Mr Bob Okae, the district chairperson, were futile as he did not answer repeated calls.
Ms Beatrice Akello Akori, the RDC, however, said the MPs were shifted to the church because the district had not planned to host such a big number of attendants. She said they could not book another venue since the residents had gathered.

The committee also accused the district leaders of shunning the meeting yet there were issues that required their responses.
“We have summoned to Parliament the human resource personnel, records officer, CAO and others for explanations. We are scheduled to meet the Public Service minister to explain the drama in Apac before we present the report to Parliament,” she added.