Members of Parliament on the Public Accounts Committee have proposed transferring the mandate of procuring items under the Affirmative Action programs from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to another entity. This recommendation comes amid allegations of abuse of power by the OPM in managing these programs.
The proposal was made during a committee meeting where officials from the OPM, led by Accounting Officer Dustan Balaba, were responding to audit queries raised by the Auditor General’s Report for the financial year 2022/23. The report highlighted the OPM’s failure to explain the delivery of fewer goats to the people of Karamoja than expected.
According to the report, the OPM received over UGX 24 billion to procure 73,900 goats, which eventually died due to their inability to withstand the weather conditions in Karamoja, resulting in a financial loss of over UGX 19 billion. MP Phillips Lokwang from Karamoja noted that most of the goats were sick.
The OPM’s mandate is to coordinate and monitor the implementation of affirmative action programs aimed at addressing historical challenges in disadvantaged regions of the country. However, the MPs’ proposal seeks to remove the procurement aspect from the OPM’s mandate, citing concerns of abuse and mismanagement.
