Sh2.5 Billion for One Case is an Insult
The Monitor (Kampala)
EDITORIAL
May 11, 2006
The top managers of Uganda's government have decided to pay Sh2.5 billion to one private law firm to prosecute President Yoweri Museveni's main political rival, Dr Kizza Besigye, on treason charges.It must be stated from the outset that Besigye or any other person must be prosecuted if there is sufficient evidence that they engaged in treasonable activities.Presumably, the state had enough evidence to prosecute Besigye and that is why it opened up the case. Then why, with all that evidence, the government thinks that the experienced Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Simon Byabakama and his staff are not capable of successfully prosecuting the suspect is what defeats logic.Shs2.5billion is what is used to pay all the salaries in the Directorate of Public Prosecutions. The entire DPP's annual budget is Shs3.4 billion. So adding the Shs800 million, which the same law firm is being paid to defend the nomination of individual ministers who failed to resign before running for parliament, to the Sh2.5 billion for prosecuting Besigye and the about Shs1.2 billion for defending the Electoral Commission in the presidential election petition where EC was found roundly guilty comes to about Shs 4.5billion. All this amount from the treasury to one company in a space of about two months over political cases!It is disturbing enough that Shs2.5 billion of public money can be spent on private lawyers, for one case, whose services were procured without tendering, when Shs 3.4 billion is already spent on the DPP's office annually.It is even more worrying that the NRM MPs who were sued for standing for office without resigning their seats were sued in their personal capacities and it is the taxpayer who has to meet their legal costs. Can the tax payer also pay the legal fees for a DP, UP or FDC member who is fighting an election petition?After the Supreme Court confirmed the NRM victory even though with a narrow margin, the legality of Mr Museveni's government is no longer in question for the next five years. So is it necessary for it to engage in such reckless expenditures when its hold on power is no longer threatened? Why can't government offer incentives to its attorneys so they can handle its cases diligently at a micro fraction of the Shs4.5 billion it is paying to one firm for three cases?If government was genuine in its motives to hire effective private lawyers, it should have engaged them to fight the many dubious cases in which it has lost tens of billions to profiteering claimants.
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