A group of 19 councilors on Thursday afternoon stormed out of Kabale district council hall and rejected the budget estimates that were presented to them.
The angry councilors accused the Kabale district chairperson, Patrick Besigye Keihwa, who also doubles as the district secretary for finance, of deliberately refusing to consult them in the budget formulation process.
Other issues raised by the councilors include allegations of dictatorship by the district speaker Pastori Twinomuhangi, who has on several occasions reportedly belittled them saying that they do not know what brought them to the district council whenever they question his actions and those of the district chairperson.
The walk-out started when the Rubaya councilor David Skyluck Kagoma rejected Keihwa’s budget presentation saying that the councilors were not given a chance and consideration during the budget formulation process.
Kagoma insisted they postpone the presentation of the budget to Friday June 29th and give the councilors a chance to study it before they receive it. They also refused to pass a vote on account as they were not involved in the identification and costing of priorities.
The complaints were, however, trashed by the district speaker who revealed that there was no need for councilors to be consulted as they have two full months of studying the budget before passing it in September. He riled the councilors when he said they have failed to do what brought them to council.
This sparked off bitter reactions from the councilors who demanded for an immediate apology Speaker Twinomuhangi saying that he was using abusive language towards them.
Benson Ainebyoona, the Kamwezi sub county councilor, told the council that it was unfortunate for the speaker, who should be in a neutral position, to clearly side with the district chairperson.
Ainebyoona asked the speaker to either immediately apologize or goes ahead with only those who can stand his dictatorship but Twinomuhangi said he would not apologize prompting the councilors to walk out.
///Cue in: “Submission from………
Cue out:…….thank you very much.”//
The district speaker was however not moved by the walk- out of the councilors and went ahead with the session.
He accused the councilors of failing to represent the people who voted them into their current positions and instead focusing on their personal interests.
//Cue in: “They are not………..
Cue out:………personal interests.”//
Keihwa went ahead to present the budget to the remaining 19 councilors.
Out of the 35 billion shillings budget, 14 percent was allocated to health, 60 percent to education, 9 percent to administration while 4 percent went to works among other sectors.
Keihwa accused the councilors of acting emotionally under the pretext of being left out of the budget formulation cycle.
He said that those who saw the urgency of the matter are the ones who stayed behind and received the budget.
///Cue in: “It so happened ……
Cue out:…….passed in September.”//
