No MP was bribed to save govt agencies from merger- Speaker Among

The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among has dismissed reports that some government entities bribed legislators to reject executive proposal to merge them back into their mother ministries.

For the last two weeks, Parliament has been debating the amendment Bills to rationalize a number of government agencies to contain the growing public expenditure. However, some media reports have suggested that some of the government agencies like Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), National Information Technology Authority-Uganda (NITA-U) and Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), among others which were spared from rationalization bribed legislators to block their merger.

During her communication at the opening of Wednesday plenary sitting, Ms Among accused some media outlets and social media users of spreading hate rumors against the House she presides over through unfounded bribery and corruption allegations.

“These allegations of saying members were bribed must stop, nobody was bribed, people legislated on their own, how can you bribe a whole House? Whatever did not go through, it was a consensus like yesterday on UNRA, it was a consensus and even the minister conceded. Why should we be blamed for what we are doing? We must find out what these people are after. Do they want the public to hate Parliament?” Ms Among queried.

Other agencies whose merger were rejected by Parliament are; National Forestry Authority (NFA), Diary Development Authority (DDA), National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), Uganda Cotton Development Organization (UCDO), National Bureau of NGOs and Uganda Road Fund.
During the heated debates which saved the listed agencies, legislators instead called for more funding to empower the agencies to carry out their mandates effectively.

However, Parliament urged the ministers with concerns over the operations of their line agencies to present amendments so that Parliament can endorse the legal reforms that give more executive powers to the line ministers over the agencies.
“The ministers have all the powers to present an amendments here if they so wish to put the board in an alignment, so that they have vital powers, for example, over remuneration, over performance in contracts, among others,” Kampala Central legislator, Muhammad Nsereko said on Tuesday as Parliament saved UNRA from the merger.

“Let the minister present such amendments to enable the minister to hold a whip and exercise his executive powers over the agency rather than winding up the agency. If it is about streamlining, let the ministers present the amendments as they see the unanimous support of this House,” he added.