The Budget Parliamentary Committee has discovered that the two radio samples available at the ‘factory’ that won the bid to produce government radios were imported from China via DHL.
According to the committee, the said factory has no capacity to manufacture or even assemble radios in Uganda.
The government is currently seeking for Shs 330 billion to buy radio sets from Orions Transformers and Electricals Limited, the company which was contracted to produce and supply nine million radios that were to aid with the home learning programme of non-candidate learners who are currently at home.
Members of Parliament on the Budget Complimentary Committee and some Parliamentarians on the Education and Sports Committee who visited the factory on Thursday, however, were amused by the said factory which has no capacity and has never produced any radio.
The Committee was left wondering how the said factory bypassed all procedures and managed to convince the Education Ministry to hand them the multi-billion shillings radio sets deal because all that was found at the factory were transformers.
Amos Lugoloobi, the MP representing Ntenjeru North said that all rules of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets procedures were also not followed in awarding the company this deal.
The MPs are still hesitant to approve a Supplementary Budget of Shs 6 trillion that is meant to cover the deficit to the 2020/2021 budget, part of which was to be used in purchasing these radios.
Additional reporting by Canary Mugume
