The Lady Justice Catherine Bamugemereire’ Commission of inquiry into land matters is yet to conclude its work, it is need of more money but its failure to account for all the Shs13 billion provided by the Ministry of Finance is likely to put the commissioners in disrepute given that they are investigating issues of corruption, transparency, ethics as well as exhibition of professionalism, among a few others. It could easy turn to be accused as the corrupt investigation corruption.
The Commission of Inquiry into land matters is in spotlight over extravagant expenditure even as it has not traversed all parts of the country. Many victims of land grabbing are still waiting whether Lady Justice Catherine Bamugemereire and her staff will reach their areas but when they here issues of mismanagement of billions of shillings in the commission, their hopes fade.in total, Justice Bamuemereire earns Shs68 million from chairing the commission but also continues earning her monthly salary as judge.
Remember the commission has received over 4500 cases that need its attention. But how will this be handled given the mismanagement of the allocated funds. The commission is also limited by time.
The Commission of inquiry was set up in 2016 to look into the effectiveness of the law and processes of land acquisition, administration, management and registration in Uganda following increasing land conflicts. Since they began work on May 3, 2017, they have been able to hand in an interim report to President Yoweri Museveni who appointed the commissioners.
Having failed to account for the first batch of the money, it appears the commissioners and their technical staffers thought that handing the interim report would force the ministry of finance officials to hand them the extra Shs7 billion needed to complete the inquiry. The refusal by the financial ministry officials to give the Commission the extra cash means Justice Bamugemereire should reign over the accounting officers to provide the accountability of the money used, with supporting documents attached. This is a normal accounting requirement yet accountants at the Commission didn’t do that. Where were they picked from?
Looking at the cash rewards of the Commissioners for the work they do, one only concludes that this country might never master the art of using the little financial resource it has. The commissioners are paid about $200 (about Shs720, 000) per sitting and $690 (about Shs2.5 million) per day whenever they travel abroad.
The team’s travelled to Ghana, United Kingdom, and South Africa where they have spent about seven days, cost the taxpayer about Shs470 million paid to the seven commissioners. If there was careful use of the Shs13b the commissioners could not be now crying for extra funding from the treasury. Readers would want to know the value that the officials’ trip outside country in as far as the work was concerned. Interestingly, the countries they have visited have different land tenure systems from that of Uganda and one wonder why the commission could visit such countries.
However, to blame also is the Finance Ministry, Time has come for the ministry to negotiate for the best rates on behalf of government agencies when it comes to hiring facilities like hotels and other items. This is because the ministry of finance mobilizes the funds and knows how hard it is to gather the money for public use. It should be able to guide other ministries and agencies and commissions on certain expenditures.
The plead that the last four months had had the commission staff work without any pay or allowances should be a learning lesson that money should be spent spa ring and with the country at heart. The country that still relies partially on donor funds cannot have its employees spent recklessly. That the Ministry of Finance, out of the extra Shs7 billion needed, can only extend Shs2 billion is indicative that the commission has not provided value for the first money provided.
With a backlog of so many files remaining to be attended to, it remains to be seen whether Justice Catherine Bamugemereire and her staff will successfully conclude their work in early May, 2018. It they fail they take the blame for failure to utilize the limited resources in the best way possible. They should have known that Uganda is chocking.
