Rubanda District Woman MP and Commissioner of Parliament Prossy Akampurira Mbabazi says she gave the controversial Shs400m service award cash to women Saccos in her district. Akampurira, Solomon Silwny (Bukholi Central), Esther Afoyochan (Zombo District Woman MP) and Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba (Nyendo-Mukungwe) pocketed up to Shs1.7bn in service awards, an act which Ugandans have labelled corruption.
Akampurira says that while she received the money from the right channels and that she did not steal it to qualify for the label of “a thief.” She went on to claim that she “gave it to the people.”
“I want to tell you I had all the liberty to use that money for my personal gains but I didn’t do that. I gave that money to the people because I know how important my people are. And let me tell you I have never picked the money or stolen any money,” said Akampurira.
“This is money that came from Ministry of Finance and it went to my account. So I had all the liberty to use it for other things but I got that money and put it in the community and it is doing great wonders. My woman are getting a lot of money. When you consult most of the women, they have really gotten money in their savings and they are developing in that.”
Speaking at the belated international women’s day celebrations for Rubanda District, Akampurira swore that she was not a selfish person. If she was, she continued in defense, she had the freedom to purchase a monster vehicle with the Shs400m.
Swearing that she is “not a thief,” Akampurira waxed lyrical about the impact of the money she Injected in Saccos, noting that it will also supplement the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyoga, both government programs. She also used the celebration to donate an ultrasound scan machine worth Shs25m.
Akampurira is said to be popular with a considerable number of women who have benefitted from her Prosperous Women Rubanda (PWR) project that injects seed capital worth Shs400,000 in each of their village groups or their Saccos.
But some of her constituents are unhappy with her and some have called on her to resign over corruption related to the cash award.
As The Pearl Times has reported, Akampurira was at Mathias Mpuuga’s thanksgiving where she wondered why people would want to use allegations to bring down leaders who have shone. Mpuuga and his fellow commissioners were in attendance, as a sign of solidarity, at his thanksgiving where spoke about his potential to become NUP president and Uganda’s president. (Read Story Here and There).
There have been calls to have the four commissioners arrested over the service award. But the state has arrested five other MPs over corruption.
At another event, Speaker Anita Among defended one of the arrested MPs, Cissy Namujju, telling her voters that she will be their MP forever. Another MP Juliet Kinyamatama has thrust herself in the crossfire after she suggested Cissy Namujju should be applauded for stealing and sharing with her voters. A new campaign #TextTheThief has been launched targeting the four commissioners, Kinyamatama and the speaker. (See Details Here and There).
At another front is a move by Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo to censure the four commissioners. At the weekend Ssekikubo was denied a microphone to speak at a Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba thanksgiving, with organizers saying he was never invited to the event. (Read Story Here).
Ssekikubo has previously alleged that some MPs have been ordered to take trips abroad and others put under pressure from above to withdraw their signatures. (See Details Here and There).
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