Major development partners will suspend funds due to the UNRA merger

Also on Thursday, the National Tribunal Bill, 2024, which sought to merge the Tax Appeals Tribunal with the Electricity Disputes Tribunal, was defeated and as a result, Constitutional Affairs Minister Norbert Mao was forced to withdraw it, thereby demanded that the bill be subject to a new trial.

The same script could play out once the House Committee on Physical Infrastructure is asked to present its reports on the fate of the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) and the Uganda Road Fund (URF), which the executive wants to return to the ministry. of Works and Transport.

But it has now emerged that road projects funded by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (ADB) will be suspended once they are disbanded.

According to Mr Dan Kimosho, the Chairman of the Physical Infrastructure Committee, the two banks have set a condition that the projects they finance will be implemented only by UNRA, and not as a department within the Ministry of Public Works.

He also noted that the two funders determined that funding through the Ministry of Public Works would only be released if a new assessment of the Ministry of Public Works took place.

“If we revoke UNRA today, all these projects will be put on hold and the lender will come back to assess the Ministry of Public Works. There is no specific timeframe for how long this review will take,” Mr Kimosho said. “When a contractor is stopped from continuing work, he charges the government compensation. I’m looking at how many projects we will charge as the review progresses.

However, Minister of State for Works Ecweru assured MPs that the government would still secure the funding.

“I want members to know that we have many other funders handling other projects. So they will not be interrupted, but these two in particular (World Bank and ADB) have insisted that if the rationalization is completed, they will too. will likely suspend (funding),” he said.

He added: “I can assure you that the World Bank and ADB are dealing with the government of Uganda, not the agency. The confidence they have in the government has therefore not been lost. They just want the implementation straightened out.”

To enable the committee to prepare a comprehensive report to be submitted to the House of Representatives, Tonny Away, vice chairman of the committee, demanded that the Ministry of Public Works assure them that the projects would continue even after the merger . He said this would determine the committee’s decision on the report.

In more than three talks spread over two weeks, the government presented a flawed certificate of financial implications for the UNRA bill, and remained unclear on the exact final benefits to be granted to the 1,577 workers once the rationalization was implemented.

On Tuesday, Minister of State for Public Service Mary Mugasa, Minister of State for Finance Amos Lugoloobi and Minister of State for Public Works Ecweru appeared before the Kimosho-led committee in a bid to convince lawmakers to abolish the UNRA and URF, something the trio has struggled to do.

The trio were expected to answer questions on the inconsistencies on the certificate of financial implications, job security, exact terminal benefits, fear of the likely dangers of red tape that would adversely hinder progress in Uganda’s road sector and the fate of the staff who would be affected. the planned rationalization.

“The technical officers who have the requisite qualifications and are willing to join the regular public service will be given priority in filling the positions in the approved structure,” Ms Mugasa said, adding: “The Division Fund is created under the Ministry of Works and Transport structure to accommodate officers performing the function of fund management under URF.”

“The Department of National Roads was established under the structure of the Ministry of Works and Transport to accommodate the bulk of UNRA’s workforce. The Division of Ferry Services was also established under the Department of Maritime to accommodate the staff operating the ferry services cares to include,” she added.

The MPs did not seem convinced.

Based on the information gathered on the irregularities surrounding the financial implications certificates, Mr Kimosho informed Mr Lugoloobi that his committee was in possession of a letter written by Deputy Advocate General Pius Perry Biribonwoha ordering that the UNRA calculated final benefits would be maintained.

“A certificate of financial implication should be issued with an amount including the severance pay as calculated by UNRA and a footnote should be made stating that the amount claimed by UNRA will only be paid if it is subsequently finally determined that the staff is entitled to a severance payment.” Mr Kimosho read part of Mr Biribonwoha’s letter.

He added: “As the figure is only an estimate, the certificate of financial implications will be in accordance with Article 74 of the Public Financial Management Act.”

This would mean that the Ministry of Public Services will scrap the Shs46 billion originally planned as a final package for UNRA staff.

While appearing before the same committee on October 15, UNRA Managing Director Allen Kagina told MPs that the government would have to spend at least Shs196 billion on terminal benefits for its staff.

In response, Mr Lugoloobi said: “The document you are reading is the letter I have. I want to put forward that the conclusion there… I thought this might settle the matter. We can then abandon the previously issued certificate and issue a certificate that records this conclusion.”

Consequently, Mr Lugoloobi undertook to amend the certificate of financial implications. He did not define the exact date when this would happen, but MPs insisted they would not proceed with the bill unless the said certificate of financial implications is used.

On several occasions, a litany of irregularities and insufficient preparation have come to light during the RAPEX legislative process at Parliament.

While tabling the minority report on the 2024 National Tribunal Bill, Erute South MP Jonathan Odur revealed that a defective financial implication certificate was attached to the said bill and key stakeholders such as Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) were not consulted. .

According to him, if the planned amendment is approved, it would be contrary to the provisions of the Constitution.

“It is important to note that this article not only directs Parliament to establish tax tribunals, but also prescribes the nature of tax disputes that may be referred to the tax tribunal. The deliberate use of the word ‘tax before tribunal’ indicates the intention of the framers of the Constitution to christen the Constitution as a tax tribunal,” Odur said.

These grounds overcame the majority report that had endorsed the government plan.

In another dramatic display, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Mr Joel Ssenyonyi, led an opposition blockade of Parliament’s second reading of the National Coffee Amendment Bill, 2024. In successive instances, witnessed on Wednesday and Thursday, gathered Mr Ssenyonyi his forces to obstruct the middle and final stages of the processing of the National Coffee Amendment Bill.

On Wednesday, Speaker Among decided to suspend deliberations on the said subject, while she adjourned the House for good on Thursday. It is therefore not clear when the bill will be approved by parliament.

”In the event of rationalization of UNRA, the provisions of Section 6.01 of the ADB Loan Agreement/Section 5.01 of the ADB Loan Agreement shall be invoked if, as stated in the provision, the legislation establishing UNRA has been amended, suspended, repealed whether it has been relinquished or if, in the opinion of the Bank, the legal nature of control over UNRA has changed….” Mr Dan Kimosho, Chairman of the Physical Infrastructure Committee