Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party has raised concern over the mismanagement of taxpayers’ money where the Ministry of Agriculture spent Shs15 billion in the Goat Roll-Out project that was implemented in seven (7) districts.
The concern was raised by John Kikonyogo, FDC spokesperson during the media briefing held today at Najjanankumbi.
“Our attention has been drawn to the concerns raised in the Auditor General’s report regarding the Shs15 billion Goat Roll-Out project that was implemented in seven districts. The Ministry of Agriculture imported 71 goats at a cost of Shs528 million,” Kikonyogo noted.
He added that shockingly, the report reveals that Shs7.3 million was spent on each goat, yet the majority of them died within the first week after distribution. Many of the purchased goats were sick and malnourished.
“Our concern as a party lies in the government’s continued mismanagement of taxpayer money and affairs of the country. Despite the commendable work of the Auditor General in exposing such theft, we do not understand why Parliament fails to take action. Parliament has the authority to decline allocating further funds to these taxpayer money vampires, yet they keep approving allocations to them year after year,” Kikonyogo said.
He added, “We must not forget past scandals, such as the exorbitant purchase of pens by Bank of Uganda at Shs357,000, and the purchase of rats during Covid-19 at a cost of 8 million shillings, where individuals involved were merely questioned by parliamentary committees and allowed to go unpunished.”
Last week, while appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Steven Kajura, Project Coordinator at the Ministry of Agriculture defended the cost spent on each goat saying the goats were bought from South Africa and was of a higher pedigree.
“The goats were bought from South Africa and Namibia, we bought high pedigree animals and that includes insurance and flight costs, so it came to Shs7.3 million the exotic pedigree animals are usually very expensive, you are free to google and you will come to around the same range,” Kajura explained.
According to the Auditor General, John Muwanga, all the 150 goats distributed in Nakasongola district worth Shs52.5 million had died, whereas in Gomba district, out of the 700 goats distributed worth Shs 245 million, 259 goats valued at Shs90.7 million had died, thus indicating that a total of 409 goats out of 850 distributed in Gomba and Nakasongola worth Shs143 million had died by the time of audit in September 2023.
Kikonyogo has revealed that it is very clear that this government lacks the will to combat corruption in this country noting that the would-be culprits the would-be culprits have now learned the “trick”, they are summoned to the committee, pretend to be terrified, talk softly, don’t argue, sweat profusely and ask for water, then go home and enjoy the “loot” and wait for the next allocation.
“We demand that urgent action be taken against any individuals who mismanage public funds and be held accountable for their actions.” He noted.
