Published on 16/07/2024
The Committee of Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises (COSASE) examined the relevance of Boards to public bodies this week. Martin Muzaale (Buzaaya County) sparked debate by urging a review of the policy that predominantly hires elderly individuals, citing high maintenance and medical costs amid high youth unemployment in Uganda. He advocated for a shift to younger talent to balance cost and employment issues.
“I think we should take serious note of the issue of Boards. A mere small hotel has a Board, and we are spending a lot of money on that Board. If you examine the cost, it runs into billions. The money spent on the Board is Shs286M, and most members are elderly and expensive to maintain. These are retired people; instead of giving jobs to young people, they are just there,” Muzaale remarked during the July 8, 2024, COSASE meeting.
The meeting was held to scrutinize the December 2023 Auditor General’s report for the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), which revealed that Shs286M was spent on Board members’ allowances in a single year. Muzaale questioned the need for multiple Boards within the tourism sector when all entities aim to promote Uganda’s tourism.
Documents provided by UTB also highlighted an additional expenditure of Shs468,008,020 on Board, Council, and Committee meetings in 2022/23.
Days later, on July 11, 2024, the Board of Directors of Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) was summoned by the Committee to explain why they managed the National Broadcaster without a valid Strategic Plan. Allan Mayanja (Nakeseke Central) criticized James Tumusiime, Board Chairperson of UBC, for failing to lead his team in formulating a strategic plan, which he argued is crucial for aligning the Corporation’s activities with national goals.
“The lack of a strategic plan implies that the Corporation’s activities may not be aligned with the National Development Goals and may lead to the failure to achieve UBC’s vision and mission. This is why we invited the Board to explain why UBC is operating with an expired strategic plan,” remarked Mayanja, who is also the Vice Chairperson of COSASE.
Tumusiime responded, “We have a strategic plan for 2022/23 and 2024/25. When the Auditor General carried out his audit, it was in draft form, waiting for board approval. The Board hadn’t been appointed by the Minister, and when it expired, it took about four months for the Minister to appoint a new Board. Once appointed, we began evaluating, analyzing, and approving the new plan.”
However, Yusuf Nsibambi (Mawokota South) expressed disappointment with Tumusiime’s response, questioning how a seasoned leader could confuse a draft strategic plan with an approved one. He doubted the authenticity of the submitted document, suggesting it lacked the qualities of a proper strategic plan.
“With all due respect, I didn’t expect such a response from Tumusiime, given his background. The query was that there was no strategic plan, and you are saying it was in draft awaiting Board approval. Was that response given to the auditors? If you had the draft strategic plan, why didn’t you present it to the auditors?” Nsibambi asked.
Tumusiime deferred to Winston Agaba, Managing Director of UBC, who explained that the strategic plan was in draft form due to the absence of a fully constituted Board at the time of the audit.
“When the auditors interacted with us, the plan was in draft form. The Minister hadn’t constituted the new Board, and the previous Board’s mandate had expired. While some old Board members returned, we had to wait for the fully constituted Board. We did inform the auditors that it was in draft form,” Agaba explained.
Richard Muhumuza (Bwamba County) asked Agaba to clarify if UBC relied on an unapproved plan to manage the national broadcaster, to which Agaba admitted they had to work with a draft.
“We had to have work in progress, and from the strategic plan, we weren’t starting from zero. We were building on the previous plan, which had activities that rolled over. The expired strategic plan wasn’t even 20% implemented, yet its activities remain relevant,” Agaba defended.
Charles Bakabulindi (Workers’ MP) rejected this argument, emphasizing the need for an approved strategic plan.
“In Parliament, you can’t use a draft bill; you quote a statute. Now, if the strategic plan was expired, you use it until the new one is finalized. A draft is not a final document,” Bakabulindi asserted.
Agaba conceded that a draft strategic plan isn’t equivalent to an approved one but faced further questions from MPs like Nsibambi, who asked why the Board didn’t ensure the plan’s approval before its term expired.
Agaba replied, “Yes, we did present it to the Board before its term expired. We were guided by the Board to seek input from all stakeholders before finalizing it.”
