Uproar greets proposal to create more speaker slots

The Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister’s proposal to create assistant deputy speaker slots has been called into question, with the impact on the public sector wage bill a particular pain point.

Minister Norbert Mao on Tuesday floated the idea to insulate Parliament from the possibility of failing to sit in the event that Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa is unavailable. Speaker Anita Among is currently on maternity leave.

Article 82(1) of Uganda’s Constitution empowers only the Speaker and Deputy Speaker to preside over plenary sittings, a critical tenet in the legislation processes of the country. The proposal to fill a lacuna, experts say, with the creation of offices for assistant deputy speakers will further increase the public sector wage bill.

“Our economy is not doing well and it would be good to reject such an idea or if not justifiable to drop it,” Mr Fred Muhumuza, a macroeconomist at Makerere University, said of the possibility of increasing public expenditure amid shrinking cash inflows.

For Prof Sabiti Makara, a political scientist at Kabale University, “the substantive point is that the Constitution will have to be amended.”

He added: “That would mean that many other things that have been pending the amendment of the Constitution should be brought forward. But will they bring those kinds of issues? Why is it that they want to change the Constitution for only one thing?”

Prof Makara was also alive to the fact that Uganda has “a constrained budget with constrained resources” and that a House of 557 lawmakers compounds matters.

“I think this position is not necessary because since independence we have never had an assistant deputy speaker and nothing has ever happened. So if there had been an incident that all of them were absent and Parliament came to hold, then they would justify it like that,” he reasoned, adding, “But creating another layer of administration in Parliament when there is no justification yet as to why it should be created would be wrong.”

Mr Julius Mukunda, the executive director of Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), told Sunday Monitor that “creating the position of deputy speaker would require us to have more resources.”

He added: “From a resource management perspective, it is unnecessary because it can be done without changing in the process […] instead of putting assistant speaker, they should put regulations that allow the speaker to appoint any chairperson of the parliamentary committee to take charge of the proceedings in Parliament in absence of the speaker and the deputy.”

The shadow attorney general hastened to add that his proposal is markedly different from what Minister Mao proffered.

“Anything to do with adding the costs of public administration on the citizens of Uganda, I simply abhor. We don’t need any other constitutional office in the Parliament of Uganda. The offices we have are enough,” he said, adding, “Though there are situations when the two of them are not there and that is why I was suggesting a panel where you can pick any member of Parliament from the panel that has been randomly chosen. It doesn’t have to be a permanent member.”

The 11th Parliament has 557 lawmakers and 26 ex officio members. Each gets a monthly salary of Shs6.1m in addition to other perks. Besides the salary, each lawmaker receives a housing allowance of Shs6.5m, a town running fee of Shs1.945m, and a constituency support fee of Shs17.03m. Worth noting is that ministers or ex officio members who are not representatives of any constituency don’t receive the constituency fund.

Other perks that the lawmakers are entitled to include fuel allowance that ranges anywhere between Shs10.3m and Shs31m per month, depending on the distance between a lawmaker’s constituency and Kampala.

At the start of each Parliament, every lawmaker is entitled to a free iPad, funeral package, family health insurance cover, and allowance on travel abroad of $700 (Shs2.6 million) while inland travel is about Shs450,000 per diem.

The cost of propping the offices of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are even most costly.

BENEFITS

Speaker

• Monthly allowance (60 percent of the salary of sitting Speaker)

• Four-wheel chauffer driven car (3,500-4,000cc)

• Two security guards

• Two domestic servants

• Free medical care for retired Speaker and spouse(s)

• Monthly allowances for utilities (33 currency points (Shs660,000))

• State funeral and a public holiday

• Spouse(s) inherit benefits upon death of the Speaker

• Shs313m vehicle (once after five years if re-elected as MP)

• Additional four official government vehicles (Mercedes Benz, Limousine, pick-up truck and Subaru lead car)

• Travel in-land (More than Shs500,000 per night—per diem)

• Travel abroad ($1,250 (Shs4.7m) per night—per diem)

• Undisclosed monthly/annual salary

• Fuel, lubricants and oils

• Statutory allowances

• Welfare and entertainment

• Uniform, beddings and protective gears

• Printing, stationery, photocopying and binding

• Personal private Security at a level of director

• Two secretaries

• Official driver

• A private press secretary

• Aide-de-camp (ADC)

Deputy Speaker

• Monthly allowance (60 percent of the salary a sitting deputy speaker)

• Four-wheel chauffer driven car (3,500-4,000cc)

• One security guard

• One domestic staff

• Free medical care for retired deputy speaker and spouse(s)

• Monthly allowance for utilities (33 currency point (Shs660,000))

• State funeral and a public holiday

• Spouse(s) inherit benefits upon death of deputy speaker

• Travel abroad ($1,250 (Shs4.7m) per night—per diem)

• Undisclosed monthly/annual salary

• Fuel, lubricants and oils

• Statutory allowances

• Welfare and entertainment

• Uniform, beddings and protective gear

• Printing, stationery, photocopying and binding

• Personal private security at a level of director

• Two secretaries

• Official driver

• A private press secretary

• Aide-de-camp (ADC)

• Six security guards

• Books periodicals and newspapers

• Computer supplies and information technology

• Telecommunications

• Cleaning and sanitation services

• Motor vehicle maintenance cash

• Maintenance equipment and furniture

• Donation budget