Pupils attending class
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Francis Xavier Lubanga today put up his defence in the wake of allegations, pinning him for the failure of the Judicial Commission probing mismanagement of UPE and USE funds.
Last week, the Commission’s chairman, Justice Ezekiel Katunguka pinned Lubanga for delaying to release funds for the commission’s work, which in turn affected the course of the work.
While appearing before the Social Services committee today, Lubanga denied reports that he had halted payments to the commission for its work and only releasing it during school holidays.
He further justified the freezing of the 976 milion shillings left on the commission’s accounts following Parliament’s resolve to halt its work, saying the Education minister, Jessica Alupo had never instructed him to release the monies.
Meanwhile, Education minister, Jessica Alupo has maintained her position on the commission’s failure to table reports on its work to her ministry.
Recently, President Yoweri Museveni criticized the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga for halting the probe on UPE and USE, after Alupo admitted before the house that it had failed to produce a report since its inception in November 2009.
Appearing before the Social Services committee today, Alupo says her ministry has never received the said reports from the commissioners.
She however said their requests for a 2 billion shillings supplementary budget should be approved by Parliament to complete its work.
