NATIONAL – Speaker Anita Among has raised her voice and barked at trade minister David Bahati saying that his failure to solve traders’ problems and end the ongoing tax strike shows he is weak, incapable and unfit to be a minister in President Museveni’s government.
Among wondered why the strike was still on and at the same time Bahati can’t explain anything to Parliament about steps the ministry has taken to resolve the same.
Among was chairing Parliament and demanded to know for how long traders are going to be suffering with Bahati’s ministry and URA’s refusal to listen to their concerns. When Bahati said the problem was being resolved at the highest levels of government, Among shut him up and asked chief whip Denis Obua to get for her a more serious minister who can properly explain in a language MPs can understand and find to be truthful.
MPs demanded to know the cost of the strike in terms of how much traders were collectively losing daily and what URA loses everyday in terms of uncollected taxes for as long as shops remain closed. Still, Bahati didn’t have any answer. He was just looking on the roof and this prompted the Speaker to be even harder on him.
It was at this point that Anita Among rebuked Bahati calling him a lazy minister who isn’t fit for the position he is occupying in cabinet. She accused him of being among the floppy lazy ministers who are burdening and overloading the President with too much work yet they have been given everything to work for Ugandans but they opt to be lazy as they go about fortune-hunting for their next elections campaign.
“I’m not happy with you ministers at trade. Why are you overloading the President by wanting him to be the one to solve every problem? Do your work you ministers because we as Parliament have done our work to give you all the legislation required and please administer the taxes because that’s your work. I’m tired of this please Executive do your work otherwise you are making the whole government to look ugly.”
MP Joseph Seruwungu also joined the Speaker in attacking Bahati for being a lazy minister. The Kalungu east MP wondered why Bahati as the trade minister can’t solve the problem of traders strike and has to wait for the President.
“You people you are going to kill that old man with too much work because you are ministers who don’t like to do your work.” Seruwungu said.
Bahati explained that it was Francis Mwebesa and general Wilson Mbadi, the new minister working with Matia Kasaija of finance to solve the problem and himself is not involved in the same. He said the three ministers were having a meeting today at finance to try and solve the problem by sitting down with the leaders of the different groups of traders.
Even when he was not in the meeting, Bahati told MPs that he was sure the problem was going to be solve in the meeting at finance and that there was a possibility the government side would call off the EFRIS application and give traders more time. He assured the Speaker he will come tomorrow morning and TVdeliver the good news to Parliament that the strike has ended.
MPs led by Seruwungu and Semwanga Gyavira had proposed that the government abandons the EFRIS application altogether to allow the strike to end. Bahati replied by saying that all the options are on table including the government of President Museveni permanently halting the EFRIS application because it has turned out to be very unpopular.
END.
