Alice Alaso has joined the Serere County Member of Parliament race to replace the deceased Member of Parliament (MP) Patrick Okabe who perished in a road accident on December 19 last year.

The teacher-turned politician was the Woman Representative for Serere District in the eighth, ninth and tenth Parliament on the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket. Her declaration came a day after the Electoral Commission had released the programme for the by-election that would see voters go to the polls on the 23rd of February.

“I will be contesting and I can assure you that victory is on my side,” Alaso, who now subscribes to the Alliance for National Transformation (ANT) said.

She added: “I am not new in Serere because I once served and left a mark. I am presenting myself with hope of winning.”

Four individuals have so far expressed interest in the position including the deceased’s son, Emmanuel Omoding Okabe. Others include: Martine Ouguruco and Philip Oguruco, the National Resistance (NRM) Flag bearer.

There are 138 polling stations in the county. February 23 is the polling and tallying day.

On 19 December morning, Parliament communications director Chirs Obore announced the death of Okabe and his wife following a fatal accident at Naboa in Budaka district on the Mbale-Iganga highway, Parliament communications director Chris Obore has said. Obore also said the driver too was left in critical condition.

Different members of parliament described Okabe as a man who was full of wisdom and who thought through everything before he took action.

“Okabe was full of wisdom. Him being older than some of us so we considered him our senior. He would guide us on a number of issues quietly despite not talking a lot during sessions, He always thought through things before taking action,” one of the members of parliament said.

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The Parliament Committee on Public Accounts (Local Government) has recommended that the Secretary to the Treasury (PSST) should hold the accounting officers personally liable, for authorizing advances that were unaccounted for.

Citing Kole District Local Government, the committee recommended that the accounting officer and the chief finance officer and other respective heads of departments be reprimanded for contravening legal financial provisions.

According to the committee report, the Auditor General observed that a total of shs349.5 million in respect of staff advances and fuel deposits was not accounted for, and audit was unable to confirm that the funds were utilized for the intended purposes.

The committee also observed that there was laxity by the accounting officer in ensuring strict adherence to the provisions of the Financial and Accounting Regulations, 2007 leading to financial loss.

“The committee recommends that full recovery be made from the officers who received the cash advances or the accounting officer, CFO and the respective heads of departments make good, the losses within three months from the time of adoption this report,” reads the report in part.

The report was presented by the Committee Chairperson, Mr. Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, during plenary sitting on Friday, 06 January 2023.

The committee also observed that in Masindi Municipal Council, there were irregularities in the cash flow statements of shs120.4 million because the advances were not supported by detailed schedules and bank statements to confirm the authenticity of the figures reported in accounts.

The committee recommended that the municipal council’s accounting officer should ensure that reconciliation is carried out and up-to-date records of the schedules are made available to ease to tracking of cash flows or recoveries.

The committee report focused on the report of the Auditor General for Financial Year 2020/2021 on 49 district local governments, six cities and five municipal councils.

The committee noted that the worst performing entities in terms of absorption capacity as Hoima City (30 per cent), Kitgum Municipal Council (36 per cent), Gulu City (36 per cent) and Masaka City (37 per cent).

Entities that absorbed 100 per cent of their releases were Arua City, Kitagwenda District Local Government, Terego District Local Government and Madi Okollo District Local Government.

“The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development should account for the under release for the funds to the local governments. Accounting officers under whose supervisions local governments fail to utilize funds released to them should be held personally liable,” Mapenduzi said.
The committee also made case studies and recommendations on payment of salaries, pension and gratuity, operationalization of new cities and implementation of the Uganda Road Fund, among others.

The Minister for Local Government, Mr. Raphael Magyezi said the report will help government and the local governments to improve on management and accountability for funds.

“Government will implement the recommendations of the report and give feedback to Parliament in terms of actions taken at each entity,” Magyezi said.

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Legislators will hold a comprehensive debate on how to curb the increasing road accidents which have claimed many lives.

In a sitting of the House on Friday, 06 January 2023, the Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa directed the Minister for Works and Transport to present a statement on the road accidents and what the enforcing agencies are doing to curb the carnage.

Tayebwa cited the many accidents over the festive season which claimed many lives.

Some of the people killed in the accidents included, the former Member of Parliament for Serere County, Patrick Okabe and his wife.

Three members of the family of retired Supreme Court Justice, Paul Mugamba were also killed in an accident on the Kampala-Mityana road.

Several people have also been killed in crashes involving public service vehicles with the latest being a bus that rammed into a stationary trailer on the Gulu highway near Kamudini on Thursday, 05 January 2023. The accident saw over 12 people killed and others seriously injured.  

Tayebwa said these place the responsibility to scrutinize government plans to counter road carnage, on Parliament. “The minister will be required to present a comprehensive statement that will be subject to a thorough debate. We shall need broad measures taken by government to address road carnage,” Tayebwa who also lost a family member in a road accident, said.

The Deputy Speaker was concerned that the accident reports in the media are all attributed to reckless driving which he said must be checked.

He proposed the need to review the issuance of permits, a process he said has been compromised by those who obtain permits by bribery as opposed to the required proof of training.

Relatedly, Tayebwa said the state of potholes on roads within Kampala Capital City was deplorable, and requested for accountability of the over US$200 million loan passed in the 10th Parliament to reconstruct 27 roads in the city.

“I have observed a lot of potholes in Kampala, and the solution they are providing is patching them; we passed a loan to reconstruct most of the roads under Kampala Capital City Authority, it is now two years yet I see potholes everywhere,” Tayebwa said

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