MPs on Parliament’s Finance Committee have lashed out at the continued snubbing of Committee meetings by Secretary to Treasury, Ramathan Ggoobi (pictured), attributing it to disrespect and lack of importance he attaches to Parliament.
The concern was first raised by Moses Aleper (Chekwii County) during a meeting held between the Ministry of Finance and the Committee to discuss the impact of tax exemptions are having on Uganda’s economy.
“And when we have been interacting with this sector specifically with the Ministry of Finance and we haven’t got the opportunity to interact with the technical head of the institution who is the Secretary to Treasury. What is the reason for his failure to be present in these discussions? Personally I am more comfortable discussing with officials at both the technical and political level,” Aleper said.
In July 2021, President Museveni appointed Ggoobi as Secretary to Treasury to replace Keith Muhakanizi who was transferred to the Office of Prime Minister as Permanent Secretary, but despite holding for over a year, Ggoobi has hardly appeared before the Finance Committee.
Keefa Kiwanuka, Chairperson Finance Committee described Ggoobi’s conduct as strange and tasked the Ministry of Finance to explain Ggoobi’s continued snub of meetings in Parliament, remarking “We appreciate that you have the technical backup, but I think it is very strange that the Permanent Secretary hasn’t appeared in these meetings. I don’t know, it could be that he sees it as a waste of his time, and therefore, he can do better things.”
The Minister of State for Finance (General Duties) Henry Musasizi distanced himself from Ggoobi’s decisions saying he doesn’t speak on behalf of the Secretary to Treasury noting, “I come to the Committee based on your invitation and when I feel like I need technical backup to support me, they are always available, so as far as this interaction is concerned, I am fully supported by the technical team, the other things are outside my scope.”
It wasn’t long before Patrick Ocailap, Deputy Secretary to Treasury joined the meeting, attributing Ggoobi’s absentia on another meeting he had to attend, but fell short of explaining the perennial snub of the past meetings, “The Secretary to the Treasury was summoned for another meeting where we were summoned on short notice and therefore, the Secretary to Treasury sent me to accompany the Minister and the technical team, I apologise.”
The Finance Committee supervises the Ministry of Finance and all agencies that fall under the Ministry.
