The Minister for Relief, Disaster preparedness and refugees Eng Hilary Onek has threatened to resign his office accusing the Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja for usurping roles under his office leaving him irrelevant.
In a letter dated October 29, 2021, and addressed to PM Nabbanja, Eng Hilary Onek claims that since her appointment, Nabbanja has taken over roles of his office and that of his deputy, purged the department of disaster and caused arbitrary interdiction of staff, and made arbitrary directives even on smallest matters of administration. Onek says if Nabbanja wishes to continue carrying on his roles, he is going to resign.
“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 policy makers on matters of refugee and disaster management have been TOTALLY usurped by your office.”
Eng Onek says Nabbanja’s appetite to take over his office is evident in the way she has been calling meetings, going to disaster affected places and visiting refugee settlements without informing him or his deputy. He says at times Nabbanja invites his staff to meetings without his knowledge citing a meeting with the leadership of Bududa on 29 October 2021 which was convened without participation of his office.
“You have also purged the department of disaster management, taken over the distribution of relief items and causing interdiction of staff members without proper investigation and without conducting a forensic audit by involving the office of the auditor general.
Eng Onek claims, On October 5th, Nabbanja wrote to his office halting the settlement of refugees in Kyangwali over land ownership dispute, a decision that was arrived at without involving neither him or his deputy or any technical staff from the department of refugees. He said, Nabbanja’s actions will lead to further contradictions and confusion in handling of these cases whose results he is not ready to be held accountable.
Eng Onek says he has worked with previous three Prime Ministers and all along he knows that their Constitutional role is to coordinate legislative agenda, lead government business in parliament and monitor all ministries and government programs but not to involve in the micromanagement of other ministries as Nabbanja is doing.
Eng Hilary Onek threatened to resign if Nabbanja continues to render his docket irrelevant.
“Rt Hon Prime Minister if you have decided to carry on working like this and rendering my docket irelevant, kindly put it in writing to the president who is the appointing authority and I will relieve myself of my responsibilities and allow you carry on with your duties. I will NOT be held accountable for the decisions that have been taken without my input”
As PM, Nabbanja shot to the limelight when she intervened in a relief scandal involving poor quality items to locals ravaged by floods in Kasese. She noted that the blankets were extremely light and they could not serve their intended purpose. She added that the mosquito nets were too small for anyone to use and that the beams were not good for human consumption.
Subsequently, three out of five people implicated in the scandal have been arraigned before the anti-corruption court in Kololo and charged with causing financial loss to the government. They all pleaded not guilty and applied for bail
Nabbanja has also been personally engaged in several relief supply activities during the COVID-19 lockdown, in Bududa District following recent landslides, and in Masaka where heavy rains ravaged crops leaving hundreds without food and shelter.
