Kampala: The stewardship of Speaker Edward Ssekandi came under question yesterday with several opposition MPs suggesting the he was guiding debate of Chogm report to favour indicted ministers.

Budadiri West MP Nandala Mafabi, who chairs Parliament's Public Accounts Committee which drafted the Chogm report after a nine-month investigation, was the first to draw daggers and accused Mr Ssekandi of outright bias.

Moments earlier, Vice President Gilbert Bukenya had presented a statement in response to the charges in the report, defending his decision to sanction the lease of luxurious BMW vehicles as opposed to outright purchase.

The House was locked in a gridlock for more than one hour after MPs disagreed on whether all the indicted ministers should first present defences or Parliament first handles the case of Prof. Bukenya and the three other ministers who have already tabled their responses.

The three ministers are Ms Hope Mwesigye (Agriculture), Mr Khiddu Makubuya (Attorney General) and Mr Serapio Rukondo (State for Tourism). Trouble began for the Speaker after he said the watchdog committee is only mandated to discuss findings of the Auditor General, questioning why some ministers had been implicated in the report and yet there were no audit queries against them raised by the Auditor General.

"Unless you are suggesting that we should simply adopt the Auditor General's report," Mr Mafabi said, telling the Speaker that his committee investigates beyond tips provided by the Auditor General. "If this is the way we are going, I think this report has died. For me I feel you have killed the report."

Responding to the charge, Mr Ssekandi asked whether Mr Mafabi and his committee would "want to go in a retreat" to prepare responses but several MPs dismissed the idea and said such a decision would only be time consuming. PAC MPs insisted they were prepared to deal with the ministers' statements. "The best way forward is to let PAC give a second response to what the ministers have said," argued MP Oboi Amuriat. "We may end up exonerating people we shouldn't."

However, Mr Ssekandi declined to entertain the idea. "It is now up to us as the House to compare the report and the responses and determine whether to uphold or disregard," he said. "As far as you [PAC] are concerned, you finished your work."

Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo contested the Speaker's ruling, warning Mr Ssekandi not to "tie our hands and lead us in a specific direction." The MP said to thwart rebuttals by PAC, would be "opening a window of escape" for the indicted ministers.

Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa implored the Speaker to let all the implicated ministers first present their defences after which Parliament can collectively debate the report.

Following a request by Kibaale MP Frank Tumwebaze, Mr Ssekandi suspended proceedings and adjourned the House to Tuesday next week before ruling that the rest of the implicated ministers will be allowed to present statements.

Keywords: anti-corruption, civil service, governance, executive, donor aid, Uganda