Why Uganda MPs earn big money but remain poor

On January 4, Bubulo East Member of Parliament Simon Mulongo posted a scathing comment on his Facebook page. The legislator was disappointed with some of the constituents in Masabaland or the Mt Elgon region, the area he hails from, for becoming conmen.

“I’m not happy with some colleagues from Masabaland who have turned conman to MPs, I have had several cases involving lies about dead bodies for transportation to false burials that require my assistance,” the legislator wrote.

Mr Mulongo was concerned about individuals who lie to steal from unsuspecting legislators, but his statement was reminiscent of the results of a just released study commissioned by Alliance for Campaign Finance Monitoring, a loose coalition of 14 civil society organisations.

Nearly 128 of 146 directly elected MPs told the researchers that visiting their constituency can be very expensive as they are often asked by constituents to assist them financially. Some of the things that MPs are obligated to contribute to include fundraising for churches, mosques, schools and other communal but privately owned buildings or services in their constituency.

The survey, ‘Who Pays the Piper’ released on January 20, further revealed that on average MPs were contacted for financial support from eight out of 10 of their constituents.

Further, the study revealed that MPs spend Shs4.6m each to provide personal financial support to those constituents on a single visit. Of those contacted, the least spender disbursed Shs100,000 on a single visit while another on a high end spent Shs100m.

In 2014, the study revealed a single MP spent Shs36.7m on average, with the least and biggest spenders disbursing Shs400,000 and Shs300m respectively.

Regional factor
According to the study, an individual MP from western region spends most (Shs6.1m) on a visit to a constituency while that from the north spends at least (Shs2.4m) on average.

In the central region, MPs spend Shs4.5m each while their counterparts from the east spend Shs4.6m each on average on a single visit to their constituency.

Legislators from the western region, who according to the study spend most, are also in least agreement at 43 per cent when it comes to the question whether Parliament should limit how much an MP may borrow and agree to be deducted from their parliamentary salary and allowances to guarantee repayment of their loan.

Those from the east who are the second biggest spenders in their constituencies also agreed most (59 per cent) when the same question was posed to them. Their counterparts from the north came in at 56 per cent while those from the central region were at 53 per cent.

Also, while most MPs know it is not their responsibility to pay a citizens’ personal expenses, they nevertheless go ahead to do it to meet public expectations.

An MP from western region spent Shs45.9 million on average as contribution to request for donation to communal but privately owned buildings or services in 2014, according to the report. While representatives from the central spent Shs37.3 million on average and their counterparts from the eastern and northern regions spent Shs35.7 million and Shs20.4 million respectively.

However, when it came to providing communal services that should be the responsibility of government, legislators from the eastern region on average spent most having to part with Shs60.9 million, followed by those from the central at Shs43.6 million. Those from the western region spent Shs31.3 million while members from the northern region spent Shs22.1 million.

Party affiliation
On the political affiliation front, members from the ruling NRM spend most with Shs5.3 million as their average expenditure per constituency visit. Those in Opposition spend Shs2.7 million, the least while Independents spend an average Shs4.5 million.

However, an Independent member on average spent most Shs85.6 million on donations for communal services that should be the responsibility of government. On similar services, those from NRM spent Shs32.8 million while those in Opposition spent Shs25.7 million.

Legislator’s role
The roles of a legislator in Parliament are mainly four: representation, legislation, budget approval and oversight.

But the study revealed that MPs are doing the job of government. About 77 per cent of the MPs interviewed said they were often asked to contribute to the cost of communal services that should be the responsibility of the government.

An average MP spent Shs38.3 million to provide to the electorate such communal services like ambulances, boreholes, feeder roads, bridge repairs, public schools or health facilities. These ideally should be the responsibility of government. On such items, the study revealed the least spender disbursed Shs200,000 while the biggest spender used Shs250m.

About 53 per cent of MPs in the Opposition, 52 per cent in NRM and 47 per cent of Independents strongly agreed when asked whether Parliament should limit how much they can borrow and what should be deducted from their parliamentary salary and allowances to guarantee repayment of their loan.

Only nine per cent in the Opposition, five per cent in NRM and six per cent of Independents disagreed with this particular survey question.

Ndorwa West MP David Bahati and NRM deputy chief whip says legislators have other roles like advocacy and lobbying, but while it is not enshrined in the law, providing financial help is something they have to contend with.

“All politics is personal and local and this is a reality we are in. Voters resonate with a leader who attends to their needs and we cannot run away from that,” Mr Bahati said.

However, Jinja Municipality East legislator Paul Mwiru says by living with the reality Mr Bahati talks about, they have to also provide leadership. “As leaders, we have an opportunity to provide leadership to the people by telling them what is right and not,” he says.

Mr Mwiru also says government seems to be non-existent, leaving MPs as the first contact with the electorate and the President second. He adds that there is need to change leadership which he says is bent on giving tokens to the people.

“We also need to change leadership and with that the mind-set of the people. President Museveni dishes out money at will and the people have gotten used to that,” Mr Mwiru says.

Betty Amongi, the chairperson of the Uganda Women’s Parliamentary Association, tags the challenges MPs face to the breakdown of service delivery in the country.

“The expectation from the public of MPs is enormous. People cannot access quality health and education services and turn to us their representatives to help them,” she says.

Amongi adds that the Executive needs to work out a system that can redirect effective service delivery to Ugandans. “We need to rethink a new policy that can help the lower person get services like hospitals, schools and cooperatives near,” she says.

Once that is done, Amongi says, legislators will be left with contributing to things like churches and burials which is part of the tradition and therefore should not be a burden.

Mwiru also says to unburden the MPs, government needs to bring back the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) with clear guidelines and structure. The fund worth Shs10 million every year was scrapped by the Eighth Parliament due to the rampant lack of accountability of the money by legislators.

In Kenya for example, the fund is managed by the Constituencies Development Fund Board which ensures that there is transparency, accountability, separation of powers, and participation of the people in the management of the fund.

Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Wafula Oguttu recently proposed the reinstatement of the CDF as a means of relieving MPs from the burden of sacrificing their resources. Mr Oguttu wants a bigger amount than the Shs10 million which can facilitate meaningful developments like schools and hospitals among other needs.