The new Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Mary Goretti Kitutu has revealed that she is going to first deal with corrupt officials at the ministry as one of the ways of ensuring efficiency.
Kitutu who has been serving as state minister for environment was this month appointed by President Yoweri Museveni as Minister for Energy and Mineral Development during a mini cabinet reshuffle.
During an interview on NTV over the weekend, Kitutu said that she going to fast-track how the Shs811 billion meant for the power distribution project targeting rural areas was used. The money was borrowed from Exim Bank of China.
The project which kicked off early this year has been faced with a lot of controversies especially with the alleged procurement of 32 unqualified companies that were given the mandate to manage the assignment. Currently, the project is not being well executed as planned due to alleged corruption within the ministry.
As she takes over from her predecessor Irene Muloni, Kitutu said she is determined to find out what really went wrong.
“Together with my colleagues, I’m going to ensure that the political supervisors are in the field following up the technical team to see that the project is well-manned. That is one of the first things to be focused on in my first months,” said Kitutu.
She added that within the her first months in office, contractors must be able to deliver power in all sub-counties.
“I will also have to put emphasis on the reduction of Power tariffs because these are one the most affecting points. We are working on it closely that is why these Kalagala-Ntanda falls are intended to finance Bujagali, this is a way of helping to reduce the tariff so that we can attract more investments into the country,” said Kitutu.
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