Loading...

MPs form Lugumi contract probe subcommittee

The parliamentary oversight committee on public accounts—PAC- has formed a nine-member sub-committee to probe the Sh37billion forensic equipment contract between Lugumi Enterprises Ltd and the police force.

The nine-member team to be headed by Josephat Asunga (Vwawa-CCM) includes Livingstone Lusinde (Mtera), Stanslaus Mabula (Nyamagana), Haji Mponda (Malinyi) and Hafidh Ali Tahir (Dimani) all from CCM.
The other four from the opposition are Ms Naghenjwa Kaboyoka (Same East-Chadema), Musa Mbaruk (Tanga Urban-CUF), Tuza Malapo (Special Seats-Chadema) and Khadija Nassor Ali (Special Seats-CUF).
Aeshi Hilary, the deputy chairman of the Public Accounts Committee made the announcement yesterday in Parliament grounds in Dodoma shortly after the committee held yet again a meeting to discuss the controversial equipment contract.
The team will develop terms of reference from earlier meetings conducted with both the police and Lugumi Enterprise officials, so as to verify the facts involved.
The 2011 contract signed during the tenure of ex-Inspector General of Police (IGP) Said Mwema, involved installing scanners in over 100 district police stations across the country, but as the matter stands only 14 scanners were installed.
This is despite the fact that the government had already made the bulk of payments relating to the total cost of the project.
The modern fingerprint technology was touted as crucial in significantly improving police efficiency in carrying out criminal investigations and positively identifying suspects.
But the PAC recently raised questions over a report by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) which affirmed that only about 10 per cent of the agreed number of scanners had been installed.
PAC issued a demand note to Police Force headquarters to present the contract with Lugumi Enterprises for parliamentary scrutiny, only to be rebuffed by incumbent IGP Ernest Mangu who said the police force is not answerable to Parliament and therefore not obliged to respond to all its demands.
Section 117 (18) allows parliamentary committees to form subcommittees for better execution of its responsibilities.
In an unexpected twist, the just formed sub-committee will have to revive investigation into the matter which includes assessing and evaluating a project implementation report submitted by police headquarters to PAC.
The PAC deputy chairman when listing subcommittee members to reporters skipped to say if the police had handed over the contract but insisted the sub-committee will have four weeks to complete the work.
Hilary (Sumbawanga Urban-CCM) said the team will also seek audience with the CAG and several top police officials.
Shortly after the subcommittee submits its report to the full PAC, the report will be submitted to the National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai for tabling before the House
.

Post a Comment

CodeNirvana
Newer Posts Older Posts
© Copyright MORI | Designed By BAKI NASI
Back To Top