Officials from Defence Ministry defending their 2022 budget
MPs on Parliament’s Budget Committee have quizzed the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs over the request of Shs89.667Bn to fund the ongoing war between Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and Allied Defence Forces (ADF) in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Leading the probing was Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga County) who wondered why the Army that refused to seek approval from Parliament to enter DRC was now seeking for Parliament’s approval to fund the current war.
“We waited for them in parliament, they couldn’t come. Even before that, how have you been funding this so far? Since November when those activities begun, how have you been funding it and you aren’t telling us who is funding this operation? You aren’t telling us in this statement, how much money have you spent on this operation?” Ssekikubo said.
This followed a request made by Edith Buturo (Under Secretary) Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs while appearing before Parliament to defend the 2022/2023 budget framework paper.
It should be recalled that in November 2021, UPDF launched a missive against ADF rebels after accusations of masterminding the terror attacks in Uganda in what has come to be known as Operation Shujja.
Buturo told Parliament that the operation requires 89.667Bn for 12months and in the breakdown, Shs81.836Bn will go towards logistics, while Shs4.259Bn towards medical treatment of troops while the rest of Shs3.571Bn will go towards communication equipment.
However, Ssekikubo lashed out UPDF for sidelining Parliament and opted to update DRC Government and United Nations Security Council, wondering whether the money that is funding the troops is derived from elsewhere other than the national budget.
“Maybe you continue funding it the way you have been funding it anyway. You can continue in your own way, since you chose to run away from parliament, so you better keep it from parliament, better maintain and continue with it the way you have been doing it. But why are you proceeding in unconstitutional manner and yet you come before Parliament and want to legitimize some of your activities?” asked Ssekikubo.
Abdallah Kiwanuka (Mukono North) also weighed into the matter asking the Ministry to explain when the Operation Shujja will end and how long the army intends to stay in DRC and asked the Ministry to consider bringing a supplementary funding because there is need for more information on the matter.
In response to concerns over failure to update Parliament on UPDF decision to enter DRC, Markson Oboth State Minister for Defence took political responsibility for not briefing Parliament, saying there is still learning lessons for the army as well as other strategic meetings taking place.
“Because it is quite complicated, these people had penetrated our system here. There was total need to surprise our enemies which was done. They were surprised, overwhelmed and overrun,” he said.
The Minister further defended the Shs89Bn expenditure saying, “There is no war which is cheaper because we need to have equipment, feed them and you know DRC is full of forests, the soldiers have to maneuver. The reason we didn’t come to Parliament isn’t because we don’t want or we don’t attach importance to Parliament. It was only strategic that we don’t give much information.”
In the 2022/2023 budget framework paper, the Ministry of Defence has been allocated Shs4.427Trn and of this, Shs696.1Bn will go towards wage payment, Shs1.146Trn for recurrent expenditure, while Shs29.2Bn will go towards payment of arrears, Shs406.9Bn payment of MISOM Troops and Shs2.148Trn towards capital investment of Army projects.
