by
Valerian Kkonde
PEARL NEWS SERVICE
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| Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga. If the vigour she used to support the ten billion had been used to promote good governance Uganda would now be a developed country. |
As Ugandans struggle to find and share
solutions to the Covid-19 global pandemic, Parliament is instead manipulating the
situation to enrich itself by grabbing public funds basing on flimsy reasons.
The evil plan was hatched by the
Parliamentary Commission during the supplementary budget sought to equip
institutions at the fore front of the preparations, response and impact of this
global pandemic. These include the Ministry of Health, Kampala Capital City
Authority, Disaster Preparedness, Defence and Information ICT and National
Guidance.
The Speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon
Rebecca Kadaga came out with a spirited defense of the allocation of 20 million
shillings to every individual MP. She claimed that it was meant for sensitizing
the people on the Coronavirus and paying for the fuel for the ambulances lent to
the districts as part of the Emergency Response.
“Members of Parliament must stop talking
about the 10 billion shillings. This is the project of the Parliamentary
Commission. It is the Commission and the Speaker to talk about this.”
The measures put in place by government
to combat the Covid-19 pandemic have left many ministries under shutdown, while
businesses, religious and political gatherings banned. All schools are closed
and majority Ugandans are at home. A curfew that starts at 7:00 pm and ends at
6:30 am is in place. Parliament has remained open mainly to consider the budget
preparations for the next financial year.
The justification of the loot is rather
unfortunate. Kadaga says that the money is to help MPs buy fuel for their
ambulances, pay the drivers and sensitize their constituents about the
pandemic. Is that what you call your contribution? It is irregular to say the least.
It is common knowledge that it is a few MPs
who own ambulances. More still, the supplementary budget to the ministry of
health was intended for the running of the response activities. The ambulances
at the district response task teams are under the District Health Officer who
is coordinating the response. Districts are assigned funds for all these
activities.
Furthermore, individuals and
organisations are donating toward this cause. Although they pay taxes, they are making
contributions from the salaries they get and profits made. They have not demanded for tax exemptions or
holidays much as they are impacted negatively by the crisis. Talk of a friend
in need.
The sensitization of Ugandans is being
done by the Information, ICT and National Guidance ministry. This too was a
beneficiary of the supplementary budget.
The media, private and government-owned,
has played a great role when it comes to sensitizing the public. The media
continues to broadcast and run information about the pandemic at its own cost.
Kadaga knows well how poorly paid and cash-strapped the media in Uganda is.
This is the time for Parliament to appreciate, at least for once, the important
role the media plays in informing, educating and entertaining the public. Do
Kadaga and her team of wolves need to be reminded that the media is among the
sectors that remain open during this critical time?
The several roles the media continues to
play include: disseminating critical information to keep the public informed
and safe, illuminate stories that bring us hope and remind us of our shared
human experience.
Without the public means of transport, journalists
are going out on foot to fulfill their social responsibility! Journalists go
out in the communities without any protective gear putting their own life at
risk simply for the love of the profession. It would have come as the surprise
of the Century if Parliament had come up with a plan to cater for the
journalists. It is simply enraging that Parliament continues to grab the meager
tax-payer’s money for their enrichment.
The people that Kadaga is using to
justify the robbery are all at home and are tuned in to their radios,
television sets and the internet and read the newspapers for whatever there is to
know about the pandemic.
There are 456 MPs. Only 180 MPs have
taken the initiative to own ambulances. But everyone was given money on the
pretext that they are to pay for the fuel for their ambulances. But even for those who own ambulances it is
the district to fuel them.
It is an enormous shame that while the
journalists in Uganda are risking everything, and presidents and
parliamentarians in neighbouring countries are reducing their take-home pay to
contribute to the Coronavirus eradication, in Uganda MPs are on the lookout for
what to grab.
If at all Parliament was coming up with
a genuine strategy to fight the Coronavirus, the n the LC V Chairmen and Mayors
should also have been given money. They
too are elected officials and are first contact people in the districts. Many
MPs have abandoned their constituents but the LC V Chairmen and Mayors are
always there for their people.
A Member of Parliament in Uganda earns
at least 24 million shillings a month, with a host of untaxed perks. But the so called honourables cannot even
part with half of all that they get to contribute to the war against the virus!
Parliament has also become a virus that should be sterilized lest Uganda is
crippled permanently. Uganda’s MPs are a nuisance and a disgrace.
Just imagine that what is happening in
Europe and America were to come here, God forbid, how much more would you have
allocated yourselves? Uganda is yet to lose a single life but MPs have already
grabbed twenty millions each! It is another tragedy that should not have been allowed
to happen in the first place.
For Kadaga to come up with all sorts of
funny excuses is an insult to the tax payers who, due to the lockdown, cannot
even leave their houses to go out and fend for those under their care. The
honourable thing for you to do was to mobilise your ravenous wolves to dip
their hooves in their pockets and donate to the public. Ugandans are not too
dense to believe that your actions tantamount to donating to the cause.
The money you receive monthly is yours
and it is from that that you must support the country’s strategies to combat
Covid-19. That is what other people are
doing. Why are you so selfish that you go to the extent of demanding that
people clap for you for robbing them of even the crumbs they are left with?
To date, many of our doctors are
complaining, as has always been the case, that they do not have the critical
protective gear. Others are not being paid for their near miracles they are
performing at the frontline. It is not enough to say that Parliament is talking
about it all. This is not time for talking, it is time for acting and act
decisively. Your oversight role must go beyond your personal interests and
encompass the good of the country.
You are fond of flying to Europe and
America for specialised medical treatment yet that could be provided here only
if you were honourable in your duties. The Covid-19 crisis is trying to tell you that no matter
how much money you gather, through whatever means, time will catch up with you
and put you on the same level with those you consider biological substances. But
the merchants of Kampala do not seem to have the ears to hear.
The tax payers themselves are starving
due to lack of food. Parliament has again failed to follow the food
distribution to its logical conclusion and this explains the rampant robberies,
corruption and distributions of rotten food. When will Ugandans ever be proud
of their Parliament?
Ugandans have a duty to keep their MPs
on their toes. It is up to Ugandans to declare that enough is enough and ensure
that they get what is due to them. The health facilities would not be in a
sorry state if Parliament were not to be sleepy and running after money like
whores. Parliament must admit that it is responsible for the dire state of
affairs in the country.
Parliament’s decision to all over a
sudden award itself 10 billion shillings on flimsy grounds is, if the past is
to guide us, is a scratch –my-back and I scratch yours game with the Executive.
One of the reasons Parliament gave for its continued operation during this
lockdown was to approve the budgetary allocations for the 2020/2021 Financial
Year. Some shifting in position looks suspicious enough to arouse interest.
For instance, there was at first stiff
opposition to government’s intention to raise taxes without regard to the
financial challenges brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic. Among the budget proposals that were at the
heart of the tug of war was the increase of taxes on petrol, diesel and
paraffin. Even the tough scrutiny of government’s
rushed response to the pandemic suddenly melted like ice.
The repercussions of this avarice will
be evident in an oppressive and unrealistic budget on the part of the public.
But on the other hand, the budget will pamper the Executive and its cronies
with luxurious allocations, completely out of touch with reality. Such are the
honourable Legislators.
Right now, it is the Coronavirus pandemic
that is in the limelight; it touches on virtually every aspect on our work.
Parliament is expected to redeploy Uganda’s resources in a comprehensive
intervention to address this crisis in a manner that does not favour a few and oppress
the majority. Right Honorable Speaker
Rebecca Kadaga should seek to redeem the situation, and not aggravate it.
Parliament’s pursuit for self enrichment
has reduced it to the Executive’s stooge. This is mirrored in the entrenchment
of robbery of public funds and resources, and authoritarian rule at the expense
of sustainable development and human rights. The Coronavirus is a humanitarian
crisis that we must rise to with compassion.
Parliament should instead legislate policy that favours the country to
better overcome the economic downturn prompted by Covid-19. Ugandans deserve
economic justice.
There is no opportune time for
Parliament to prove that it is indeed working for God and the country than at a
time of nationwide historic shutdowns, worldwide uncertainty and alarming losses
of human lives. It is clear that those who contribute to the defeat of the virus
crisis are blessed while those who make money out of it must be cursed.
