A section of Members of Parliament have blocked Energy Minister Ruth Nankabirwa from presenting a statement on the performance of Uganda’s tireless and biggest power distributer UMEME, insisting that it would be a wasted effort because the House already recommended termination of the contract with the power distribution company.
Nankabirwa was on Tuesday afternoon scheduled to present a report on the general overview of the performance of during the plenary session chaired by the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulannyah.
She was however interrupted by Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda who objected, saying that it was procedurally wrong to discuss a matter which had been concluded.
Earlier, Parliament had demanded that government cancels its contract with UMEME in 2014 following a report by an Ad hoc committee on Energy which reported that the company had benefitted from a dubious process in 2004.
They also questioned the manner in which the UMEME was procured and the ‘outrageous’ terms of the agreements signed between the government and UMEME.
“The committee found out that because of the peripheral role played by the Attorney General in the drafting of the power concession agreements, their terms and conditions were skewed to favor Umeme at the expense of the government and the people of Uganda as evidenced by the scandalous provisions…” read part of the committee report.
Now, Hon Ssemujju based on this report and wondered why parliament was entertaining a statement on the performance of a company whose contract the House directed to be terminated.
Nankabirwa argued that the statement she was due to present was demanded by the same parliament that was blocking it.
Speaker Jacob Oulanyah closed discussions on the matter saying that the item currently stands withdrawn from the order paper pending consultations.
