MBARARA – Fresh details have emerged over the impasse at Mbarara municipal council where councilors have kept snubbing council meetings meant to pass the budget for the financial year 2019/20.
A total of 37 Mbarara Municipality councilors have petitioned their speaker
Tashobya Karusya detailing reasons why they have snubbed three consecutive council meetings. In their petition dated May 29, councilors say have discovered that there are contradicting budgetary draft estimates of locally raised revenue with varying figures.
The petition highlights that one budget indicates Shs6.4bn with a cumulative resource envelope of Shs400m. The same draft has unspent balance of Shs425m without indicating the source; it also has interest earnings from bank savings of Shs40m.
It also indicates by end of December 2018/19 budget, that council had realized a cumulative collection of Shs3.55b.
The second draft given on the last committee discussions indicates Shs6.99b, unspent balance of Shs575m without showing the source, interest earning on bank savings of Shs21m and a cumulative collection by end of December of Shs2.09b.
“Comparing the two cumulative collections for the same budget for FY 2018/19 it has a difference of Shs1.5bn hidden somewhere and on bank saving interest there is a difference of shs19m. These contradictions are deliberate and under mind service delivery,” the petition reads in part.
It adds, “Failure to provide internal audit reports for the last three years contrary to section 90 of the local government Act, denying us a chance to deliberate on these reports to be able to keep a truck of our performance especially in revenue collections majorly property tax. Failure to provide enumeration exercise report that was to guide the council on budgeting and administration.”
Others have been failure by council to implement a number of resolutions passed by council which included not limited to demand for outgoing financial performance report, mushrooming illegal structures where members of the executive have been implicated in aiding the exercise, that even they went ahead to unlawfully implement a project of decorating Amahembe g’Ente devoid of normal procedures hence causing financial loss to council.
Imam Kagiko, a councilor representing Katete ward that doubles as the lead petitioner vowed to give up with his colleagues on their demands until sanity is restored at council.
“On Wednesday we didn’t attend the meeting, we were in another meeting with the RDC Lt.Col James Mwesigye and we told him our demands, he advised us to table our issues to speaker and that’s what we have done, we expect to handle our issues expeditiously or else we shall not sit in that council to pass a budget that has issues” Kagiko confirmed.
Mr. Tashobya told PML Daily that he has called a meeting on Friday, May, 31 since it’s the last day for passing the budget as per the circular from the ministry of local government.
“The deadline for passing this budget is today if all fail then my hands will be tied it will be only the ministry to intervene”
Tashobya says he has again called the meeting today.
