Members of Parliament were on Thursday again united in throwing out another government request to use 209 billion shillings to subsidize power supply in the country through private companies generating thermal power.
The rejection followed a government request presented by Aston Kajara, the minister of state for finance, who said that the money was needed to pay arrears owed to the thermal power generation companies in the first quarter of financial year 2011/2012. Kajara had brought a new request for an additional 117 billion shillings on top of 92 billion that the government first requested for last month.
He named some of the power companies to be paid arrears as Agrekko Kiira, Agrekko Mutundwe, Jacobsen Power Plant, Tronder Power Limited, Electromaxx, Kinyara Sugar Works and Kakira Sugar works limited. Others include Eco Power Limited and Africa EMS Mpanga.
But MPs from both sides of the political divide opposed the government request. Muhammad Nsereko, the Kampala Central MP, instead moved a motion for a forensic audit of the power sector.
Nsereko told journalists after the motion was successfully passed by the entire house that Ugandans are being cheated by the power distributors. He named Umeme as overcharging Ugandans and failing to account for their income.
Henry Musasizi, the MP for Rubanda County East in Kabale, said it was wrong for government to always create emergency situations requiring questionable expenditures. Rejecting the request, he said that emergency demand for money by government was one of the reasons that corruption thrives in the country unabated.
The government request was further complicated when MPs were reminded that Bujagali power plant would start generating power in October and therefore it would be wrong for the private power generators to be subsidized for a whole financial year.
The Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi was forced to save government from more embarrassment when he moved that the request be withdrawn until government is ready with a better position to explain the power crisis and the demand for the money.
Mbabazi also apologized for the negative impression the lack of coordination between the ministries of finance and that of energy had caused during the on-going power crisis.
While the finance ministry had said in its request that Bujagali would start producing 250 megawatts of power in October, state minister for energy, Eng. Simon D’Ujanga, sensing more questions from the opposition, clarified that only 50 megawatts would be ready by October, with more 50 coming up in December.
Speaker Rebecca Kadaga then adjourned the house and said she would recall the MPs when government gets organized.
