KAMPALA — National Resistance Movement Secretary General Justine Kasule Lumumba has denied taking money from party secretariat after party stalwarts blamed her over alleged missing campaign funds.
Last week, bizarre conspiracy theories flooded social media, alleging the SG Lumumba had faked her COVID-19 positive result to avoid accountability scrutiny for funds of the ongoing campaigns.
Addressing the media after she got healed from coronavirus in just one week, Lumumba blamed party enemies of being behind the latest corruption allegations, which she described as a lie and said the allegations are meant to derail the NRM supporters.
‘’The allegations going on are meant to de-motivate the people who are campaigning for the flag bearers and the people who are mobilising for the party. Please don’t be derailed,” she said.
“There is nobody who has taken anybody’s money. There is a procedure that is followed even if money is taken to the bank there is a procedure that must be followed. And supporting documents are available for those who wish to audit. We know that the new normal has hurt very many people but let us bear we must manage,” she added.
Lumumba also said that, as Secretariat, the party had to make changes to suit the new normal adding that funds from the party to support the different structures or individuals whether candidates or committees is banked directly to the district accounts.
‘’Every district has an account we opened up where funds are sent direct. These funds are managed by district leadership. The signatories are the chairman of the NRM in the district, the treasurer and the administrative secretary,’’ Lumumba noted, but said that for logistics like t-shirts, posters, manifestos, and any other materials got from the secretariat to the district, are sent direct to the district and the district leadership is supposed to deliver them to the villages.
‘’We are doing all these,’’ she said, ‘’ in an effort to reduce the numbers that come at the secretariat, reducing on exposure to the different people, leaders, supporters and members in order to reduce on the congestion”.
