"I am going to bring back the remaining iron sheets" - Minister Kasaija.

While appearing before the parliament finance Committee today morning, the minister of finance, Matia Kasaija shocked members of parliament when he said that he accidentally found Iron sheets in his compound. 

Matia further admitted to having received the OPM iron sheets but neither did he know they were meant for the Karamoja region.

"I have now known that these were karamoja relief items and I had again received more than 300 pieces of iron sheets, I am going to surrender them to OPM"- Kasaija.

Genesis.......

The Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija a few days ago said that he has never requested iron sheets from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) but instead, he just received a call from the latter to go and pick them up from the OPM stores,  a request he responded to in affirmative.

During an interview with journalists on Friday, Kasaija said, “Sincerely speaking, I received the iron sheets but I did not request them. I just received a call from someone telling me to ‘send someone to receive your iron sheets’ and I accepted. Under this sun who can refuse such wonderful, free iron sheets I could not refuse them because I needed them. Me I didn’t know that they were for Karamoja people because I don’t work in the Office of the Prime Minister.”

“I’m a minister and a Member of Parliament so if the Office of Prime Minister calls me to inquire if they can give me iron sheets to help in one of my programs to develop my constituency and I take them, is it wrong? Where is the crime? Did I steal them? No, I received them in the right way and I can account for them.

Minister On Phone call 

I don’t want people to ask how authentic it was for me to receive iron sheets because I’m not the head of the Office of the Prime Minister. I don’t have any case to answer because I did not steal them. Also, I did not put in my tender requesting iron sheets, I was just given them. And I’m ready to account for every iron sheet because I did not sell them nor did I use them on my houses. They were all used on the government projects in my constituency,” he added.

Kasaija who received 600 iron sheets is among the Ministers on spot for receiving relief items meant for the vulnerable people of Karamoja.

The iron sheets kept in the OPM stores were meant to be distributed to people in the Karamoja sub-region under the affirmative action program.

However, ministers divided them among themselves to help their constituency, thus sidelining the people of Karamoja yet they are the primary c se why a supplementary budget was passed to buy irons sheets to support them.