Wednesday, 29 August 2012

Uganda Minister tasked on AMISOM account


Section of Ugandan troops in Somalia.Picture Courtesy
The junior minister for Defence, Gen. Jeje Odong, was on Tuesday,August 28  asked to explain an ‘irregular bank account’ which the ministry operates to keep money received from the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Uganda contributes the largest number of troops to AMISOM, the continent’s peace enforcement mission in Somalia.

The questioning came after Parliament’s Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs, led by Mr. Milton Muwuma, said there is no information about this account reflected in the ministry’s budget. Mr. Muwuma told the House plenary session that the account was opened irregularly, without following the law as required by Article 153(2) of the Constitution.
“Despite the lengthy deliberations with the Accountant General on the mode of operation of the Amisom account and the transmission mechanism of the funds from the AU to the Consolidated Fund, the committee is concerned about the legality and prudence of establishing and maintaining a special account by the Ministry of Defence without an Act of Parliament,” Mr. Muwuma said.
The committee proposed that the Defence ministry considers remitting the Amisom revenues to the UPDF fund as established by Section 25 of the UPDF Act. However, Gen. Odong insisted that the account is regular and was opened in line with Uganda’s laws. “The authority of this account exists because section 9 of the Public Finance Act authorises the opening of such an account,” he said.
Meanwhile thousands of people rallied in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu to show their support for the newly elected parliament speaker  Prof.Mohamed Osman Jawaari.
The demonstrators praised Jawaari for his election as new speaker for the  new Somali parliament. The rally comes as Somali technical committees says the  next schedule will be the presidential election.
Jawari thanked his competitors in the race,  saying it was historic event that will see the country, which was under strive for almost 21 years of conflict, gets a government at last.
Courtesy of Monitor of Uganda and our Somali Reporter

No comments:

Post a Comment