KAMPALA — High Court has objected to a request by Parliamentary Commission to rescind its order directing MPs to return the Shs20m they received on their bank accounts to the public accounts.
Last week, Justice Michael Elubu ordered the MPs to return the controversial Shs20m to government for public use.
But the Attorney General and Parliamentary Commission ran to court seeking for correction of earlier order issued on April 29 requiring MPs to return the said money to public accounts.
The duo argued that at the time of court, the status of the said money had been spent as per the Speaker’s guideline on April 23. They argued that the order extracted on April 29th, 2020 contained errors since it didn’t reflect the exact wording from the court proceedings.
But Justice Elubu on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 refused to change the directive, saying that the April 29 court order was final and there is no way court can backtrack on its own order.
He explained that the said order is a formal expression of court and should reflect that the matters in controversy have been resolved which to him has already been done.
He ruled that he will on June 1 this year give directions on how the main case would proceed.
Last week, Judge Elubu ordered the MPs to return the controversial Shs20m they received on their private bank accounts to government for public use.
The court order for the refund followed a consent agreement between Ntungamo Municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga, the petitioner, and state lawyers from the Attorney General’s chambers and Parliamentary Commission.
According to the court orders, the funds were to be returned to either the Parliamentary Commission account, the National Covid-19 taskforce or the District Covid-19 taskforces.
“The funds be returned to the Parliamentary Commission pursuant to its letter addressed to the Members of Parliament dated 22nd April 2020; the funds be paid to the district Covid-19 task force in which the members of Parliament are incorporated through the Chief Administrative Officer,” Justice Micheal Elubu ordered.
