Lawmakers blast EAC over ‘flaws’ in awarding tenders

Kampala. A heated debate reigned at the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) here on Thursday over alleged irregularities in contracts awarded by the East African Community.

MPs came out furious demanding that the executive authority is taken to task over what they perceived to be its failure to curb flaws that have repeatedly haunted the procurement processes in the Community for years.

It took time for heads to cool down following the intervention of the Speaker Daniel Kidega and after the EAC Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko informed the House that corrective measures have been taken by the secretariat to address the anomalies.

The first salvo was thrown by Abubakar Zein from Kenya during the debate on the report of the Committee on Legal Rules and Privileges on the investigation of the procurement of a group life insurance policy for the EAC staff.

He said the malpractices were tantamount to fraud if not outright theft of the taxpayers’ money.

He called on the House not to accept the report until it is assured that the EAC secretariat will put a stop to the mess.

Suzan Nakauki (Uganda) echoed this, warning that inappropriate financial conduct at the EAC would scare away development partners who support projects and programmes in the Community.

Another legislator from Uganda Mike Sebalu said the report tabled before the House was bold in exposing irregularities concerning the award of group life insurance contracts to Kenyan-based M/S Liberty Life Assurance Company.

Patricia Hajabakiga (Rwanda), AbuBakr Ogle (Kenya), James Ndahiro (Rwanda) and Fred Mbidde Mukasa from Uganda joined the fray, calling for an overhaul of the procurement system at the EAC. They pressed  for officials found responsible to  be taken to task.

However, a section of legislators came out in defebce of the Secretary General, saying that the alleged irregularities in procurement contracts took place before his tenure of office.

 They stressed that he has acted accordingly to stem the misuse of financial resources at EAC.

“As the CEO, the Secretary General has ensured that flawed contracts are curbed. There should not be any witchhunting  of officers of EAC over this,” said Ms Isabelle Ndahayo (Burundi).

She took swipe at those who  were blaming the mismanagement of resources on the current Secretary General.

Meanwhile, Mumbi Ng’aru (Kenya) argued that since the irregularities in the EAC procurement processes have been identified, it was high time the executive authority was given room to manage the situation in good faith.

After four hours of heated debate, the report was finally adapted with a strong recommendation by Eala for strict compliance with the EAC financial rules and regulations.