MPs, army miss pay for two months
The MP further said the crisis had caused the suspension of posting new resident district commissioners appointed by the President in June. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Meanwhile, an official at the Ministry of Finance confirmed that all institutions of the government, including Parliament, received their quarterly allocation for July, August and September in lump sum.
- In 2017, Parliament reportedly spent part of its money in advance to pay Shs29 million to every MP in the wake of the controversial age limit amendment and the money was reimbursed with a supplementary allocation.
Parliament. All is not well in the pockets of Members of Parliament, UPDF officers and other government employees, Daily Monitor has established.
The MPs and others have missed emoluments for the last two consecutive months.
Three legislators speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed to this newspaper that they have kept their hopes alive, all in vain.
“All emoluments have been put on a stop for now and everyone is wondering what is happening,” one of the MPs said.
The affected emoluments include inland travel, which involves visiting constituencies and monitoring service delivery, allowances for travel abroad as well as sitting allowances.
Each MP is entitled to Shs50,000 per committee sitting and Shs100,000 per plenary sitting.
Another MP said: “They said we are not the only affected group. The UPDF and other government agencies are facing the same problem, there is no money,” the source said.
Effect
It is this problem, the MP said, that has led to the non-operationalisation of some of the new districts and respective administrative units including new municipalities.
The MP further said the crisis had caused the suspension of posting new Resident District Commissioners appointed by the President in June.
By press time, Mr Muhakanizi was yet to respond to our query on the matter.
However, the minister of Finance, Mr Matia Kasaija, said: “The Speaker was telling me something like that but I am yet to check, I need to find out and get back to you.”
Mr Chris Obore, the Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Parliament, said: “We ask for more patience from the members, they will get their emoluments. It is not possible to increase if your budget was reduced by Shs100 billion.”
The UPDF spokesperson, Brig Richard Karemire, disputed the claims.
“A very big laugh. How can we have a crisis in the first quarter?” Brig Karemire asked.
He added: “The Ministry of Defence always promptly pays soldiers their emoluments.”
He said no one has registered arrears in the quarter.
Meanwhile, an official at the Ministry of Finance confirmed that all institutions of the government, including Parliament, received their quarterly allocation for July, August and September in lump sum.
Past event
In 2017, Parliament reportedly spent part of its money in advance to pay Shs29 million to every MP in the wake of the controversial age limit amendment and the money was reimbursed with a supplementary allocation.
