Musenero sweats before parliament committee, fails to account for COVID-19 funds

The lawmakers on Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had no kind words for the minister as she appeared before the committee to respond to queries in the Auditor General’s (AG) forensic investigation conducted by AG John Muwanga. 

The AG said he couldn’t ascertain whether all Covid-19 expenditures were applied in accordance with existing guidelines and regulations.

The AG, among his findings, noted that Dr Musenero did not provide specific accountability documents and, therefore, “could not make the conclusions he could have made [in his final report] had he received and reviewed all the necessary documentation”. 

The particulars of the documents Mr Muwanga said were not availed to him were proof of submission of accountability by the Presidential Scientific Initiative on Epidemics (PRESIDE) by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations (MoSTI), the approved adjusted budgets for the laboratory animal house project and the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and antibody diagnostic test kits, PRESIDE follow-up on un-installed equipment for scientists, and the records regarding the current status of equipment procured by MoSTI. 

“I have confirmed that this document [bearing the current status of equipment procured by MoSTI] was available. We had a lot of documents to hand over but it was possibly an omission but the documents were there,” she said. 

Budadiri MP Nathan Nandala Mafabi who sits on the probing committee faults the Minister Musenero for failing to avail her accountability.

“Honourable Musenero herself is an accounting officer as far as this case is concerned. She was in-charge and directed and concurred and the AG raised issues that she did not give him [specific] documents. The first documents she should produce are those that she refused to give him,” Mr Mafabi said.