Parliamentary police has released the commissioner for Physical Education in the Ministry of Education and Sports Lameck Omara Apita after he failed to account for Shs640 million disbursed towards the construction Akii-Bua Memorial Stadium in Lira.
Members of Parliament expressed displeasure over the mismanagement of funds disbursed by the Ministry of Education and Sports towards the construction of the Akii-Bua Memorial Stadium.
He was appearing before Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), chaired by deputy chairperson Anita Among who tasked the NCS officials to follow up on the expenditure of money disbursed towards the development of the stadium.
The Committee deputy chairperson, castigated Omara and his team for failure to involve the necessary Government bodies such as the District Local Government in the finical disbursements and implementation of construction works on the stadium.
“It is important to involve the National Council of Sports since you are not the one to implement,” Among said, adding that “You are a policy maker but when you want to do everything by yourself, you act with impunity,”
She also blamed the team for failure to account for the money disbursed towards the project as well as undermining the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets (PPDA) law, and directed that the Commissioner be investigated by the Criminal Investigations Directorate of Police (CID) to trace the necessary documents for accountability.
The Commissioner was later detained by parliamentary police and released in the evening with State Minister for Sports, Charles Bakkabulindi standing as his surety.
“The Commission at National Council of Sports should interest itself in what the money has done on the stadium so far. I suggest we ask Charles Bakkabulindi to make a formal statement on this matter when the House resumes sittings,” said MP Peter Ogwang
“From today, all necessary offices must be involved in the construction because the issue of bypassing the rightful people to handle the money and disburse it without monitoring leaves many questions,” said Kasilo County MP Elijah Okupa, adding that, “The minister ought to come and clear the air on this matter,”
According to a report received by the Parliamentary Committee, the money disbursed was aimed at building an access road to the stadium as well as complete works on temporary playgrounds, which had not been worked upon, with only a pavilion erected.
It also indicates that money was disbursed in installments for works on the sports complex, with Shs400 million, Shs150 million and Shs90 million distributed in the financial year 2015/2016, to cater for among others, project monitoring.
On 23 October 2018, Ajuri County MP Hamson Obua and Kwania County MP Tony Ayoo wrote to President Yoweri Museveni, requesting for a progressive report on the construction of Akii-Bua Memorial Stadium in Lira. The letter reminds the president that over Shs600 million had been remitted towards the project since the financial year 2016/2017.