The Kira Municipality Member of Parliament Hon. Ssemujju Nganda, while in an interview with RX Radio’s James Onen, noted that what is left of the coffee deal is for the government of Uganda to decide.
Last week, Parliament voted for the termination of the controversial deal, citing that the stakeholders in the industry failed to complete the construction of the Specialized Lubowa Hospital as mandated in addition to contravening a number of constitutional laws.
The honorable explained that the Parliament makes decisions based on the interpretation given by the executive and whether the government wants to take it as an advisory or binary decision. However, he noted that the Ministry of Finance which already initially signed the agreement will have to serve the repercussions.
“For them to even construct the Lubowa project, they needed the approval of Parliament. So at every stage they will need Parliament and Parliament said that please don’t go ahead with this contract. So it's entirely now in their hands, for us we took a decision,” he said.
Additionally, the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka on Wednesday, while commenting on the decision of parliament, said that the government would need time to review the recommendations and report back to parliament.
But Hon Semujju believed that previously the committee on trade which met with the President informed that he had asked for time to review the act, hence thinking that the President might have been searching for “an escape route” given that there were many controversies around the Bill.
“He said that he will review and come back to parliament after three months, because the person that they signed this contract with, isn't an ordinary business woman that is just looking for an opportunity to do business. She is very close to the President and she looks forward to carrying out personal business with him. So, I think the President will now have to meet with his friend and speak to her,” Hon. Ssemujju added.
He alleged that Pinetti owned about 6 contracts with the government meant to construct a road, including the contract for Lubowa hospital where about 349 billion shillings was allotted to her by the Ministry of Finance.
“We got to know this lady through the President when he wanted his Ministers to sign contracts. So because she is personal to the President, it's the reason she has been protected and we only made discoveries after the Bill. But most of these contracts are signed secretively and land into trouble. Because he wanted to guarantee her, such that she could borrow money from the bank, authorization of parliament was needed, that's when it came to light.
He therefore told Ugandans that, “we don't need to blink. Don't be surprised if you wake up one day when President Museveni has sold Uganda away. So everybody must be on alert and share information or become whistleblowers because these contracts that are being signed right and left , you don't know who else he is or will be signing contracts with,” he concluded.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive and Sarah every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.
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