KAMPALA, UGANDA: Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has said she will not sit and look on as ministers who she termed “lazy” fail to execute their duties.
Nabbanja was responding to a letter from the Minister of Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Eng. Hillary Onek, who threatened to throw in the towel from his office accusing the prime minister of usurping his powers.
Onek, in a letter dated October 29, outlined a number of reasons and threatened to resign claiming Nabbanja has totally usurped all the roles of his office. He noted that he was tired of watching the prime minister with “displeasure” as she takes over all the work he should be doing.
“From the time of your appointment, [I] have been observing with total displeasure the fact that my role and that of my deputy as the Ministers in charge of refugees and disaster and the lead policymakers on matters of refugee and disaster management have been totally usurped by your office,” Onek said in the letter.
Read Here: Minister Onek threatens to resign over Nabbanja’s work ethics
Speaking to journalists in regard to the letter, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja said she had not yet received the letter from the Minister.
“I have not seen the letter. If the minister decided to address me through social media then that’s different. It is discipline but I haven’t seen the letter. Maybe he was still formulating it. People are telling me that the signature on the letter is his. My offices and his are near each other,” said Nabbanja.
She however explained that they have had a number of meetings that Minister Onek misses sometimes without giving a valid reason.
“Sometimes we hold a number of meetings, he [Onek] does not attend and even today he didn’t attend. We can’t let Ugandans be suffocated. I told you on the onset of my term of office that we shall not allow laziness,” she said.
Nile Post understands that the conflict between the two started when the Prime Minister diverted Shs 5 billion from the Shs. 15 billion allocated to the Ministry of Relief, Disaster Preparedness, and Refugees earlier this year.
The issue escalated and it was brought to Parliament for investigation
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