The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija, has confessed that most people he works with in his Ministry are corrupt and selfish.
Kasaija’s remarks follow his recent submission before Parliament that he approved Shs10.6 billion to compensate land claimants in Buganda and Bunyoro sub-regions in the Financial Year 2020/2021 by mistake.
“I have not failed at my job but the people I’m working with are very corrupt, I don’t mean all of them but those who can selflessly work for this country are very few in my ministry,” Kasaija said during a news interview with CBS FM.
“The public is in the business of blaming me but nobody can work with technical officers who are selfish and be appreciated,” he added.
Some members of the COSASE committee called for Kasaija’s resignation. These included Mityana District Woman Representative, Joyce Bagala who asked the Minister to resign over his ‘misleading’ technical staff and resign if he feels overwhelmed by government duties.
Kasaija told CBS that he is ever busy in meetings and other ministerial duties and expects the Ministry’s technocrats to do their work but the public thinks he must endorse each and every document his ministry receives.
“If I had or I have good people all these issues would not be there. And those calling for my resignation must be joking. Am I the only minister who does mistakes? Am I God? Am I worse than those who steal drugs? And how have they been handled? Don’t even waste my time,” he said.
Initially, Kasaija in his presentation said that supplementary was legal and binding and that it went through all the established government procedures in accordance with the law before it was approved.
However, when the COSASE committee interrogated him further on the legal procedures of initiating a supplementary, the minister was quick to apologize and accepted that there were some irregularities in the process.
