Gov’t Assigns Shs2.5 Billion Budget For Oulanyah’s State Burial

Asked yesterday what the lawmakers will use the money for since there is a separate Shs124m budgeted for “fuel for coordination” and Shs18m for publicity, APG chairperson Anthony Akol said: “I am not going to talk about the budget because, as Acholi Parliamentary Group, that is what we have agreed on. When Jacob (Oulanyah) was taken for treatment abroad, you people were complaining about the expenses and now why should I talk about the budget?”

He referred additional inquiries to Relief and Disaster Preparedness Minister Hillary Onek, whom he said is the APG representative to the National Organising Committee.

Mr Onek’s known mobile telephone number was switched off.

Earlier, a source familiar with the inside discussions about the burial budget preparation intimated that MPs from Acholi rejected the first budget, alleging that unnamed government officials had inflated it.

This publication could not independently verify the claims.

In the wake of Oulanyah’s death, Mr Museveni assigned minister Babalanda to oversee a state burial for the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) former national vice chairman for northern Uganda.

Over the past week, the committee has revealed next to nothing about its arrangements, with the minister tweeting to confirm this newspaper’s scoop that Oulanyah’s body was scheduled to arrive on Friday, barring last-minute changes.

Ms Babalanda also promised to release the full burial programme today, and she was not available for comment yesterday.

According to the draft funeral and burial programme, Oulanyah’s body on Tuesday, next week, will be moved to Parliament where it will lie in state for tributes by legislators he headed.