By Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
August 31, 2003
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State House has been allocated Shs 1.5 billion to purchase vehicles. But the Minister for the Presidency Hajji Kirunda Kivejinja and his team are lamenting that this is too small a figure to fund this item.
They want another Shs 5.5 billion to bridge the gap. This would bring the figure to Shs. 7 billion. The total budget for State House is Shs. 44 billion. They have been provided with Shs. 27 billion for recurrent expenditure and Shs. 16 billion for development expenditure. This, according to Kivejinja is also not enough. He wants another Shs. 11 billion to fund several other items including the repair of the presidential Gulf Stream IV jet. The Shs. 44 billion is to cover various items, including salaries for 528 State House employees. Interestingly, State House purchased vehicles worth Shs. 1 billion last year. One wonders whether the department needs to replace vehicles every year. Where did the 2002/3 vehicles and those bought in the previous financial years go? And how much does State House pay per vehicle? Last Year State House wanted to purchase 73 vehicles according to the ministerial policy statement for office of the President, which Kivejinja presented to Parliament. State House purchased only 15 vehicles and remained with a gap of 58, using the Shs I billion that it was provided. This means that on average State House spent Shs 66 million per vehicle. Information on the type of vehicles that State House purchased, is not easy to come by. Even MPs whose committee supervises the department are yet to get it. True some State House vehicles are extremely expensive - for obvious reasons. For example Museveni's official car is worth Shs 500 million. It is a 'reinforced' vehicle, whatever that means! Museveni has one or two other spare vehicles - of similar cost. At least State House Comptroller Mr Richard Muhinda told the committee on presidential and foreign affairs on August 12 that the official Museveni car is worth Shs 500 million. Samia Buggwe North MP Aggrey Awori told the same committee that he had seen Museveni's two married daughters; Ms Natasha Keinembabazi Karugire and Ms Patience Kokundeka Rwabwogo driving in new Mercedes Benz of C class worth Shs 200 million each. He wondered whether the taxpayer should continue footing the luxurious lives of the first family members even those who have long left the Nakasero hill. Interestingly the Vice President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya drives a Jeep Cherokee of Shs 80 million. This means that Museveni's daughters drive vehicles that are expensive enough to buy two and half Prof. Bukenya's Cherokees. Awori told the committee that on top of the Mercedes the daughters of the big man have another bullet proof Rover which they use for shopping from Uchumi and elsewhere. Awori was sympathetic to Bukenya and lamented, "I wish that one (bullet proof Rover) is given to him because he holds a constitutional office." The fact that some State House occupants drive extremely expensive cars, makes it difficult to put an average price on the department's vehicles. But do Museveni, Keinembabazi and Kokundeka replace their vehicles every year to warrant a huge annual budget. Both Kivejinja and Muhinda denied during a weekly cabinet briefing in Kampala on August 15, that State House had bought the two daughters those expensive Mercedes. At Shs 66 billion as seen above, the Shs 6 billion State House wants would purchase at least 80 vehicles. Muhinda, the State House Comptroller told Sunday Monitor in an interview on August 15, that some vehicles are of specialized nature. He explained that armoured vehicles go for between Shs 400 million and 500 million - each, at Spear Motors. He said that the public should understand that the vehicles in question include those of the Presidential Guard Brigade (PGB). Museveni's guards are now 4,000 man strong. Does he need all of them to justify the figure? That is a question for him. You recall that at the capture of State power in 1986, Museveni had about 700 guards. Maybe in 2006 he will have a division, which is between 7,000 and 12,000 guards, at his disposal. This would push the vehicles budget up, again. Muhinda explained that the Shs. 5.5 billion they listed in the policy statement as a funding gap on the item of purchasing vehicles is not necessarily for this financial year alone. He said that the money is a projection of the total requirement, which they have over the years failed to achieve. So to him Shs. 5 billion is an accumulation of the several years demands. In the policy statement Kivejinja indicates that the money was for the purchase of cars and pickups. Muhinda said that some vehicles need to be replaced, due to the nature of their work. State House employs 58 drivers, which means that vehicles are not so many over there. The problem Muhinda is faced with is to explain to the suspicious public that the money is actually needed for vehicles. An investigation into State House transport, during the 6th Parliament, revealed that the money spent on hiring vehicles was enough to buy - instead of hiring them. Interestingly, the vehicles they were hiring belonged to staff. The investigation also implicated late Gabriel Lukwago, former MP for Kooki. The MP acquired a vehicle under the motor vehicle loan scheme and surrendered it to State House for hire. The investigation revealed that one car would bear two number plates- and the owner would get paid twice. Even tractors would be listed as executive vehicles for hire. That is the story of vehicles. What about the presidential jet, the Gulf Stream IV, that eats up Shs. 800 million per month and Shs. 11 billion per year. Kivejinja's statement reveals that State House spends Shs. 11 billion on the presidential jet every year. Muhinda explained that the Shs. 11 billion is part of the annual mandatory payment. He said that the Gulf Stream was acquired on lease purchase, from a US firm Equator. He likened the lease purchase to a hire purchase system. The aircraft was acquired at about $ 31 million, which would come to $ 48 million due to interest. So the monthly Shs. 800 million is part of the total payment. And as soon as State House pays the last instrument, the jet would be "ours". The figures of the budgetary indicative framework, which have slightly changed, indicate that public administration consumes Shs 18.9 per cent of the total national budget. By Public Administration we are talking about State House, President Office, Office of Prime Minister, Parliament and Foreign Affairs. But there is security or defence for that matter. Security consumes 15.9 percent of the national budget. The education sector takes the highest percentage - that is 25 per cent of the national budget. The parliamentary budget committee has noted that buying of strong vehicles for each government official, including those who commute from Muyenga to office is wasteful. Sunday Monitor has also seen a six pages paper written to the Minister of Public Service Mr Henry Kajura by Col. Fred Bogere, one of the 10 Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) representatives in Parliament, on the abuse of public property including vehicles. |
© 2003 The Monitor Publications
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