Members of Parliament (MPs) have enhanced their allowances and salaries by a whopping Shs193bn.
MPs will share this money in the next financial year, confirmed Parliament Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Chris Obore.
Despite the current economic situation characterized by skyrocketing prices of commodities, the Parliamentary Commission chaired by the Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon Anita Annet Among, reportedly debated a proposal to increase all MPs’ allowances starting July 2022.
The commission noted that the increasing commodity prices and high cost of living forced some MPs to take loans so as to meet the demands of their constituents.
The 11th Parliament saw the number of MPs increase to 555.
Last month, President Museveni told parliamentary staff led by Speaker Among to wait before raising their salaries citing key personnel like armed forces, teachers and medical workers who are still getting low salaries.
Obore, while responding to a Saturday Vision story titled “MPs Allocate Extra Shs193bn for their Allowances”, said, “reporting on the national budget is a serious weakness on the part of media”.
“So, it’s easy to say MPs have increased their allowances. I haven’t read about how the media has reported on how ministries use their budgets. They will again wait for MPs to question ministries,” he tweeted on Saturday.
On Sunday, Obore further tweeted saying, “If MPs have received 40m each then I request Ministry of Finance to give me the release and I make it public. How can a budget proposal mean cash received? And this elite pretense that they are more concerned than MPs is misleading. MPs are more in touch with people and reality.”
Obore told NTV that the increment was informed by the enormous financial pressure the MPs are facing.
“We suggested an increment in their allowance. Their salary has never increased. That is a different matter. The salary remains 11.8m. So it was put in the budget proposal. You know what a budget proposal means. It has to depend on the revenue,” Obore explained.
Obore says MPs have become frontline service providers and that an Mp has to go to his/her constituency with atleast Shs5m.
“We the elite should not pretend. MPs face different pressures.”
In 2021, MPs sought to double their salaries to Shs24m from Shs11m which would raise Parliament’s annual wage bill to Shs129bn from Shs39bn.
An MP gets a basic salary of Shs11m which comes to Shs6m after all deductibles and an average of Shs10-30m in monthly mileage allowances.
They had just each pocketed Shs200m as part of the car grant.
Then newly-elected Kawempe North Member of Parliament, Mohammad Segirinya, promised to move a private members’ bill seeking to reduce the salaries of all legislators’ to not more than Shs5m.
In 2019, MPs increased their allowances by 39 per cent and that of parliamentary staff by 15 per cent, citing rising costs of living.
In February this year, MPs rejected Shs50,000 transport allowance and demanded for Shs100,000 during a health funding meeting for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).
They protested claiming the money was not enough to fuel their cars from Parliament to the Sheraton hotel which is a stone-throw away.
At the height of the Covid-19 lockdown, they paid themselves Shs20m to do Covid-19 relief work yet they are not authorised by law to spend public funds.
Luxury new cars for Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Social media is awash with reports of two luxury Mercedes Benz cars the parliament has acquired for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
The luxurious cars which are said to cost £520,000 (about Shs2.4 billion) sparked resentment from a cross-section of the public, with some describing the move as an extravagant expenditure.
Albeit Limited, a company based in the UK on March 28, 2022 sent quotations for the new cars at £520,000 (Shs2.4 billion) and the buyer admin fee of £5,000 (Shs23.2 million).
The vehicles were procured from a firm in the UK. The first one is already here and the second vehicle is arriving soon.
Backlash
Journalist Agather Atuhaire tweeted saying “Parliament procures 2 vehicles at shs 2.8b irregularly. When the previous contracts committee refused to approve the procurement of the vehicles from what seemed like a briefcase company, it was hastily dissolved and a new one instituted to clear the urgent issue.”
Chris Obore responded: “It’s clear you are vouching for the disbanded contracts committee. If there is a vehicle which costs 1.4b each it must be manufactured and supplied by yourself. Yes, we disbanded the contracts committee for various reasons.”
“Either you don’t know what you’re talking about and that would be disastrous for the institution you are supposed to speak for or you really underestimate me a lot,” Atuhaire shot back sharing an April 2022 letter that the Clerk of Parliament wrote on the matter of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker’s ceremonial cars.
“Just accept that two vehicles cannot cost 2.8b. If you need more facts, you will get that the procurement wasn’t for two vehicles,” Obore insisted.
“Costs or not…is it the most pressing & appropriate must have item during these times or its a nice to do thing which can wait or unless it’s essential in ways that concerns the national security risk to the two beneficial officials & must be addressed. The context counts!” wondered Moses Otai, the Country Director ChildFund Uganda Country Office.
He added: “And so it was given all clear….? Wondering how the wanainchi can be asked to live frugal.”
There has since been a public backlash over the purchase of two ceremonial vehicles.
Houses and new MPs’ offices
There is also a plan to purchase two houses for the same offices.
Parliament is also fronting another proposal for building offices for MPs and the search for land is on.
“Instead of paying billions in rent, we are saying, why don’t we build offices to accommodate members. But tomorrow when we say we need money to build, you will hear that parliament is extravagant,” Obore noted.