Parliament has rejected the proposal by government to purchase nine million radios for learners who are still stuck at home due to COVID-19 induced lockdown.
This was part of Government’s third supplementary budget proposal to parliament in which they wanted MPs to approve Shs336bn to enable the Ministry of Education to buy radios for learners.
The report by the Budget Committee presented by the chairperson Amos Lugoloobi recommended to Parliament to reject this proposal saying that they weren’t convinced the radio learning model would be effective.
Lugoloobi also said that the country is about to reach the debt ceiling and hence it wouldn’t be wise to approve such an expedited.
He added that the manufacturing of the proposed 9 million radios is behind schedules for immediate procurement of these radios.
Aruu County MP, Samuel Odonga Otto said radio distribution would not be done like face masks which have not been distributed in most of the parts of the country yet its funds were released to purchase them.
Bugabula South MP, Henry Kibalya said that he could not allow government to engage in buying house hold items and noted that this deal could have been fronted by “ mafias “ to take the public funds.
The State Minister for Education John Chrysostom Muyingo tried to convince MPs that the radios were necessary to keep children busy at home but MPs rejected the pleas.
The Committee also deferred the approval of Shs1.6bn to set up an embassy in Angola and Shs6bn to partly compensate the Archdiocese of Kampala for their land in Nsambya.
