Betty Kamya has said that COSASE chairperson Joel Ssenyonyi is only trying to embarrass her by calling for her to be investigated.
Kamya, the Inspector General of Government (IGG), said that a Christian, she has already forgiven Ssenyonyi.
She added that she did not violate any laws of the country by requesting funds, which is a mandate of any minister.
Last week, Parliament recommended that the former Minister of Lands, Beti Kamya, and Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija, be investigated for their roles in the shs10.6 billion land compensation.
The House, presided over by Anita Among, adopted the COSASE report, which called for the investigation.
The Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises (COSASE) is headed by Joel Ssenyonyi.
Four landowners were compensated for their land in various parts of the country, including Stephen Nagenda, the late Kosia Rwabukurukuru, Geoffrey Mugisha, and Nantalia Namuli.
According to the committee’s report, despite the fact that the Uganda Land Commission (ULC) was supposed to request the supplementary, Beti Kamya initiated the supplementary without the Commission’s knowledge.
The committee discovered that after it was approved and disbursed, the supplementary was riddled with controversies, including the payment of ghost claimants.
One of the cases is that of Nantalia Namuli, who was supposed to receive Shs2.3 billion for her land in Kagadi.
Upon investigation, the committee discovered that she was not the owner of the land. A law firm, Lubega and Buzibira Co. Advocates, which represented Namuli, benefited from the compensation of Shs2.3 billion through a man named Warren Mwesigye.
The committee report criticised Kamya and Kasaija for their roles in releasing the supplementary.
In her defence, Kamya claimed she only wrote a letter to the finance minister, “to provide funds to ULC to settle the claims,” which is not illegal.
“I just asked for funds, and that is within the prerogative of any minister – to lobby for funds for institutions under his/her charge. Whether the funds are availed as a supplementary or a regular budget item or even denied, is the prerogative of the ministry of finance,” Kamya said.
Kamya went on to say that if the Finance Ministry decides to provide funds, that decision is subject to 15 checks, including cabinet, parliament, the auditor general, and the internal auditor general, before being released to the appropriate accounting officer for payment to claimants.
“In this case, all these steps were followed and for good measure, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga even instituted an ad hoc committee of Parliament to further interrogate my request for funds,” Kamya stressed.
She said Ssenyonyi has his own motives, and that he is trying to embarrass her, but she forgives him.
“My duty as a Christian is to forgive all who have wronged me, to pray for them and to love them, and that is what I am doing. May God bless Ssenyonyi and COSASE, I say this from the bottom of my heart.”
