The Opposition Caucus in Parliament has resolved to challenge the decision to allow government acquire preference shares in Roko Construction Company Ltd.
The Caucus, which sat on Friday at Parliament’s Conference Hall also accused the deputy Speaker, Hon. Thomas Tayebwa of handling Parliament in a lacklustre manner, which saw him abuse the House’s Rules of Procedure by smuggling the proposal, which was not on the day’s order paper.
It should of course be remembered that Parliament in a questionable manner hastily passed a proporsal on Thursday, to disburse UGX 207.13 billion to Roko Constitution firm on grounds that it intends to co-own the entity, by buying up to 150,000 company preference shares.
The opposition side strongly rejected this proposal and in its minority report released on Thursday evening, several loopholes which among others included illegal passing, unfair selection of ROKO firm for government financial bailout and poor timing were cited as reasons for trashing the proposal.
The proposal had been laid by the Minister of State for General Duties Henry Musasizi on 7th July 2022, and subsequently reffered to the committee on the Committee on Finance, Planning and Economic Development for scrutiny.
In the report, the opposition legislators wondered how government could proceed to give out funds amounting to UGX. 207.13 to ROKO construction firm, yet the same government had miserably failed to commit only UGX 800 million to Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) to conduct the due diligence process that would lead to the approval of the proposal.
This amounted to collusion, given the fact that the Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development was required to follow all required legal procedures in acquisit ion of equity in Roko Construction Limited.
“The Executive Director of UDC informed the Committee that it did not undertake the required due diligence. This was attributed to failure to access funds amounting to UGX 800 million required to contract competent professional accounting firms to undertake the due diligence. It is therefore illogical for Government to fail to avail UGX 800 million for the due diligence exercise but instead proceed to seek approval from Parliament for UGX 207.13 billion,” reads the report in part.
Besides, opposition legislators also wondered why government was in a haste to acquire preference shares in ROKO company at a collosal cost, yet her citizens are deadlocked in financial distress, due to terrible inflation heightened by escalating commodity prices.
The opposition also questioned the viability of the proposal to acquire preference shares at a huge cost, yet citizens particularly in Karamoja region are dying of starvation, in addition to acute fuel shortages and runaway commodity prices.
Government, instead of fighting for the welfare of its citizens, argued the opposition, has abandoned them, and opted for lucrative deals like buying such shares, which indicate increasing insensitivity and self centeredness of state officials.
In a press briefing at the Parliamentary Conference Hall, Leader of Opposition (LOP) Hon. Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba said what happened on Thursday was plain fraud, owing to the fact that the proposal was smuggled into Parliament as it was not on the day’s order paper.
He said if government sincerely intends to bail out ROKO construction firm from a string of issues in which it is deadlocked, correct procedure should be undertaken, not smuggling proposals like it happened on Thursday.
To that end, he noted that as opposition, they intend to petition the speaker, such that the proposal is retabled and deliberated in a legally and democratically acceptable process, short of which other options will be considered for redress of the matter.
Hon. Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, MP for Butambala constituency said, the proposal by government to give out huge cash amounting to UGX 207.13 billion to ROKO firm, in a highly questionable manner is reminiscent of past proposals that have been put forward by the state and illegally passed to misappropriate tax payer’s money.
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