The five commissioners of the probe investigating the mismanagement of funds under the universal primary and secondary education programs have defended their activities since 2009 when the commission was set up.
The Justice Ezekiel Muhanguzi-led commission was appointed by President Yoweri Museveni in 2009 with Dr. Nassali Lukwago as deputy chairperson. Other members include Lawrence Mukiibi and Eng. Patrick Batumbya and Ketra Katunguka as the secretary and counsel to the commission.
In a write-up to the Prime Minister’s office, the commissioners complain that their input to Education Minister Jessica Alupo’s statement in parliament was never incorporated. The write-up signed by Ketra Katunguka complains that the parliamentary resolution was based on incomplete information which the commission could have clarified.
On February 14th, parliament passed a resolution to halt the activities of the commission and also halted further extension of its mandate. Parliament also resolved that government does not extend any additional funding to the commission and that any unspent money in the commission be frozen until investigations are complete. The MPs tasked the Parliamentary Committee on Social Services to investigate the operations of the commission.
Katunguka says the purpose of the write-up was to inform the office of the Prime Minister on the progress made by the commission as well as request for an urgent decision on the modalities of winding up the activities of the commission as directed by parliament.
Katunguka believes that even as the parliamentary Social Services committee prepares to handle the matter, the security of information and data which the commission has already gathered is at stake.
The Commission of Inquiry was constituted through legal notice No.14. The terms of reference included: to undertake an assessment of the capacity (human, technical and financial) of the central government and the districts with regard to supervision of construction projects of government at both central and district level.
The commission was to inquire into the unit cost and quality of construction of both primary and secondary schools’ facilities and to determine the extent to which civil works executed by the Central and local governments were shoddy and to make appropriate recommendations.
The third reference of the commission was to inquire into the effectiveness of the quality assurance system in place and to make recommendations regarding the improvement of the system.
The commission was also tasked to review the laws, regulations, guidelines and procedures relating to procurement to assess their impact on the attainment of value for money in the construction of school infrastructure and make recommendations.
Contrary to the education minister’s lack of information on the activities of the probe, Katunguka states that the scope and methodology together with challenges were brought to the attention of the president in various reports.
The challenges include delayed release of funds to expedite the procurement for offices and goods and services like vehicles for the exercise. This delay caused a lapse of 4 months before the commencement of work. The early end of school terms in August 2010 halted the activities of the probe.
The probe has so far spent 6.3 billion shillings which was released in two phases of 4.3 billion and 2 billion shillings respectively. Unspent balances of the commission stand at 968.3 million shillings which has been frozen by the parliamentary resolution. The commission wanted more funding amounting to 2 billion shillings in this year’s supplementary budget but was rejected by parliament.
