Uganda Parliament shamelessly exploits Covid-19 Global Pandemic for Selfish monetary gains

by Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE

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.