Katuntu, Among hit back at LoP over Cosase tenure

Parliament- As debate on the unresolved extension of the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises’s (Cosase) term of office rages on, leaders on the committee have said they do not care about “pedestrian talk” by their colleagues, including the Leader of Opposition, Ms Betty Aol.

Ms Aol had said in a telephone interview that the proposed extension of the tenure of Cosase committee was “ill-perceived, wrong and selfish”. She also described the Speaker’s recommendation for extension of tenure as an endless exercise.

In response, the Cosase chairperson, Mr Abdu Katuntu, (FDC, Bugweri County) and his deputy, Ms Anita Among (Independent, Bukedea) said they will not be distracted by such remarks and were only focused on accomplishing the task beforehand.

Mr Katuntu said he had no time to waste responding to such remarks in the face of national duty.

“I do not have time to waste. I am a serious person; what I do, I do it for this country. I don’t do politicking, just leave me alone, next time call me we talk about serious issues,” Mr Katuntu said.

The committee is investigating Bank of Uganda (BoU) for alleged irregularities exposed by queries raised by the Auditor General in his forensic audit into the closure of seven commercial banks: Crane Bank, Green Land Bank, Global Trust Bank, Teefe Bank, National Bank of Commerce and two others.

The Auditor General cited corruption, collusion and high- handedness in the manner in which the central bank closed the banks.

The committee’s current tenure ends on January 13, 2019 but acting on a request by Cosase chairperson, the Speaker recommended extension of its office period to February 20, 2019 to allow “effective conclusion of the BoU probe.”

Daily Monitor has established the committee is left with at least five sessions with owners of the closed banks before writing its report.

However, Some parliamentary colleagues in the Opposition had claimed that the extension of the Katuntu committee’s tenure was a conspiracy to delay the new Cosase leadership to assume office.

However, Ms Among sneered at the claims and said she only cares about decisions issued by the Speaker.

“I don’t mind about any other noise. We have one leader in Parliament; that is the Speaker and we go by the Speaker’s ruling,” Ms Among said.

“If she says we leave, we have no problem. We have an assignment that we must complete. The assignment involves writing the report and presenting it to Parliament,” she added.

She said presiding over the committee is not “a do or die matter,” and they cannot leave an incomplete assignment of the BoU probe.

For the second time, Kawempe South MP Munyagwa Mubarak was not available to comment on the matter.

Mr Moses Kasibante told Daily Monitor yesterday that the decision to extend the Cosase tenure is a huge indictment on Parliament. “Parliament as the custodian of all laws in the country has a duty to be seen acting in accordance with its own rules and regulations,” he said.

Whatever the conversations, the Speaker, reserves the right to guide on how to proceed.

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