Corona: Shs10b for MPs illegal, says Museveni

President Museveni has castigated Parliament for allocating itself Shs10b out of the recently passed Shs304b supplementary budget to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and described the act as “illegal.”

“Who included those things in the supplementary [budget]? I told you those things of always allocating yourselves public resources without the interest of the public, is very wrong,” a source quoted the President as raging after a heated Cabinet meeting on Monday.
The source said President Museveni asked Finance Minister Matia Kasaija to explain how the Shs10b was included in the Supplementary Budget yet Cabinet had not discussed it.

Mr Kasaija reportedly remained silent, according to our sources. Mr Kasaija is expected to benefit from the money since he is MP for Buyanja County.
“The money did not pass through Cabinet. How did it go there (to Parliament)? This is illegal (because) you are not supposed to allocate yourselves resources without going through the right procedures,” the President reportedly charged.
He continued: “The law does not allow you to increase and allocate yourselves public resources.”

Our sources revealed that the President was “bitter” throughout the debate on the matter, and that Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa volunteered a proposal that the Shs10b be taken to Ministry of Health to add to the Shs104b the ministry was allocated in the supplementary budget.
He also suggested that if there are some MPs who have already received the money, they should be asked to refund it.
However, sources said, Mr Kutesa’s proposal provoked objection from some ministers.
“Some ministers shouted in disapproval as they said the Ministry of Health has been allocated a lot of money and is getting donations, which are not yet accounted for,” the source said.

The matter was left unresolved without any definite decision taken by Cabinet.
Majority of ministers are MPs and have been partaking of the cash bonanza in Parliament, including the infamous Shs20m facilitation for the mobilisation regarding the constitutional amendment to remove the presidential age limit in September 2017. The money was described by critics as a “bribe” for MPs to amend the Constitution and lift the presidential age limit, which would allow President Museveni, now aged 75, seek re-election for indefinite terms. Under the Constitution, a person aged 75 or below 35 was not eligible to contest for presidency.
Each MP is expected to receive the Shs20m for purportedly to facilitate them to fight Covid-19, where they are expected to go to their constituencies to sensitise the electorate.

Sources within Parliament say this money was expected to be wired to the MPs’ accounts beginning today or not later than this week.
Only Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake has declared in writing, informing Speaker Rebecca Kadaga that he would not take his share of Shs20m.

Budget. Budgets, including supplementary budget, are tabled before Parliament by the Executive through the Minister of Finance. The House does the final appropriation within the indicative figure. Depending on unfunded priorities, Parliament may ask the treasury to find more resources to fund them.

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