The adhoc committee on Energy has thrown out evidence presented by Kabagambe Kaliisa, permanent Secretary Ministry of Energy questioning the academic credentials of internal affairs minister Hilary Onek. On Wednesday, the committee members unanimously agreed to expunge the evidence from their record saying that they would not include it in their final report. It all started after Kallisa presented the curriculum Vitae and academic credentials of Hilary Onek before the committee to discredit him.
In his evidence Kaliisa alleges that Onek failed to satisfy his examiners when he was an undergraduate student at Makerere University in 1971. The MPs tasked him to explain the source of the documents in vain. He informed the committee that he had written to the University academic registrar to authenticate the documents. However, the committee members told Kaliisa that what was under contention was not the authenticity of the documents but where he got them. However, Kaliisa remained tight lipped on the source of the contentious documents.
As a result, Betty Amongi, Oyam south Member of Parliament proposed that the documents be expunged from the record of the committee. Amongi advised Kabagambe to withdraw the documents he presented to the committee casting doubt on the academic credentials of Onek saying that he could face charges of uttering false documents. She was supported by Simon Mulongo, Bubulo East Member of parliament and his Kabaale Municipality counterpart Andrew Aja Baryayanga of Kabaale. Kaliisa accepted to withdrawal the evidence.
In his ruling, Jacob Oboth Oboth, the Committee chair ordered the documents expunged from the record saying that they would not be used in the final report. Onek and Kaliisa were entangled in a power struggle two years ago, when Onek was serving as the energy minister. As a result, Onek authored a dossier to the president in which he implicated Kaliisa for being self centered, selfish, and monopolizing the management of the affairs of the ministry. Onek also accused Kaliisa of causing the transfer and sacking any staff who didn’t tow his line.
