Do MPs treat their drivers like slaves?

They could be some of the highest paid Ugandans, and the fighters for every Ugandan’s rights, but, MPs don’t necessarily pay or treat their drivers, well. These drivers suffer insults, long working hours and unpaid dues.

To drive an honourable Member of Parliament, at least in Uganda, one has to have two basic things: knowledge of English and a decent sense of dress. And that is on top of living with the public perception that the men who drive those Shs103m cars, live an equally good life.

If you think driving a Ugandan MP is such an exciting job, it might not quite be the case.

Omona (not real name) gets a monthly salary of Shs200,000, mostly paid in instalments.

Although he stays in Zana along Entebbe Road, Omona drives a newly elected MP from Eastern Uganda, who stays in Bweyogerere, a township on the way to Jinja.

At 7am, Omona arrives at the MP’s home in Bweyogerere to bring him to Parliament. At 8:30am, they arrive and after parking, Omona stretches the driver’s seat and leans back. It is his office for the rest of the day.

At 7pm, Omona drives the MP to his favourite bar where he stays in the car up to about 11pm. Later in the night, he takes the MP to Guvnor Club before taking the honourable MP back to Bweyogerere at around 2am.

He is asked to park the car, retire to his home in Zana, and report back for duty the following day at 7am.

All through the day, Omona, who has a family of two, has had only one meal and does not get any other allowance. What he gets is only his monthly salary which many times does not come in on time.

Mr Omona is one out of over three hundred drivers who chauffeur MPs around town.

You see them every day sitting under a shade or in their cars, all through the day and some days late in the night waiting for a signal from their respective MP to move out. These men say they live a life of insults, bracing long hours without food and having their salaries paid in painful instalments.

“Life for us is hard and when people back in the constituencies see us driving an MP, they think everything is alright but those MPs abuse us. They take our money and some constantly threaten to fire our colleagues. We live in fear and are not sure of work the next day,” said a driver who preferred anonymity for fear of losing his job.

In one year since he joined Parliament, an MP from Jinja has had six different drivers. Some of them, the drivers say, just leave because they can’t handle the legislator’s belligerent insolence and some have been fired for taking long to get the car out of the parking lot.

The problem stems from the fact that although they are identified as support staff, drivers are not catered for by Parliament. They work and are employed at the mercy of individual MPs. Most MPS pick drivers from among their constituents.

“There are those who are enjoying their jobs because the MPs they drive understand,” said one driver. “All we want is Parliament to make us part of the system so that our money, little as it is just comes to our accounts instead of being left at the mercy of individual MPs.”

To push for their interests, the drivers have formed an association they hope will get results.

MPs ‘steal’ their driver’s allowances
One of the drivers says, “Some of those MPs pick the drivers’ allowances from retreats and they do not take the money to their drivers yet when signing for the money they promise to deliver it,” the chairman said.

“These MPs do a lot of things, they make deals and are always stressed and they can’t drive themselves with all the stress. The drivers who are supposed to protect their lives on the road are mistreated. That should change,” a driver said.

The Deputy Clerk Finance and Administration, Chris Kaija-Kwamya, was not available for comment but Parliament Staff say that unless the drivers officially petition the Speaker about their predicament, their matters may not be looked into.

“But that also will cause a serious debate if the Speaker chooses to bring the matter on the floor,” the Staff said. “The Parliamentary Commission should find a way of paying these drivers, the way they give MPs free cars, they should also give them drivers so that the exploitation can end.”

But MPs who spoke on record said their drivers do not suffer any mistreatment.

“My driver lives a high class life and I can never mistreat him,” said Mr Vincent Bagiire (MP Bunya West). “You will never hear him complain of any mistreatment because I know he is also human and I make sure he lives a comfortable life.”

Butaleja Woman MP, Cerinah Nebanda, said she even pays the school fees of her driver’s children.

“I have been with my driver since I was a child because he used to drive me to school,” she said. “We have always paid him well as a family and that’s why he has continued to drive me to date. There is no point in mistreating a driver and being greedy over their money.”

These MPs are probably among the few that treat their drivers well, as a good number of the rest of them are still complaining.

iimaka@ug.nationmedia.com