An angry MP nearly thumped Monica Musenero Musanza, President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s ‘decorated’ minister of Science, Technology and Innovations.
Naboth Namanya (Rubabo – FDC) confronted Minister Musenero as she left Parliament after giving her response to a report by a select committee investigating misuse of research funds under the Presidential Scientific Initiative on Epidemics (PRESIDE).
After reviewing the use of funds for the financial years from 2019/20 to 2021/22, the committee, whose chairperson was Xavier Kyooma, recommended that PRESIDE be disbanded.
The select committee had been instituted by then deputy speaker Anita Annet Among on November 10, 2021 folloqing allegations by MP Yona Musinguzi (Ntungamo – NRM) that Musenero had misused Shs50bn under the PRESIDE project. Musinguzi had noted that there was “no indication of a patented candidate vaccine and there was no sign of it being patented in the pipeline casting doubt in its authentication” yet funds had been spent.
“The construction of the plant to produce the candidate vaccine was premature because the vaccine had not been authenticated by either the World Health Organisation or National Drug Authority for it to be mass-produced,” the Kyooma Committee report read in part. “There was also no mention of the patenting of a COVID vaccine.”
On May 17, Musenero offered her reaction to the report. After plenary, an MP attacked her as she talked to the media. MP Namanya said Musenero was ‘a thief’ and expressed sadness that Parliament was exonerating her. The FDC legislator vowed to keep pushing for Musenero’s censure. He also doubted whether Musenero was a doctor.
But Musenero said she was a respected professional who has done a lot to save lives across the world. She added that the allegations were disheartening but vowed to push on.
“All my professional life I have dedicated myself to fighting pandemics and rather dangerous disease outbreaks in the pursuit to save lives of people I didn’t know and will never know. I have fought Epidemics such as Ebola, Cholera, Murburg, Hepatitis, yellow Fever among others. It is on record that In 2014 as a team leader in Sierra Leone I earned global recognition during the Ebola Pandemic that claimed 4O00 lives in a country with a population of 1.2 million people,” noted Musenero in her rebuttal to the committee report.
“Never before has my integrity and commitment to duty ever been questioned or have reason to be questioned until now and sadly here in my own country, so it is very disheartening to have to read these accusations in the media, hear comments on TV and Radio and to have to explain to my family and friends on how unfair and untrue all these statements are.”
President Museveni has previously defended Musenero, calling her a decorated minister who should be left alone. (Read Story Here).
