Mr Daniel K. Kalinaki
It says a lot about where ‘Uganda’ as an idea has arrived that when we first heard of a scheme to give Members of Parliament Shs100 million each the questions that went around in the newsroom weren’t about the audacity or legality of it all.
They ranged from back-of-the-envelope calculations of how much money it would take, where it was coming from, and why it was being paid. The idea that it might be irregular, even illegal, to hand out such large sums of money to MPs, reportedly in cash, is no longer worthy of consideration.
This is partly because when Daily Monitor finally published the story two weeks later, it went back to 2005 to show the various times MPs have benefitted from off-balance-sheet payments to pass legislation that the Executive wants but which might not be very popular or in the public interest.
In 2025, as in 2005, the public only got to know about this payment because some MPs who were left out from the list of beneficiaries decided to spill the beans.
Most MPs – especially those who received it – see nothing wrong with the payment. This isn’t just about the ‘honourable’ members; most of us have come to accept this as the way Uganda works, not how it fails, that we would do exactly what the MPs did; take the money and run for the hills in our constituencies.
The moral argument against it is so clear-cut as to be spared debate. So, let’s see the rational side of the argument. The closest we have received in the way of explanation is a high-level inquiry into why the few MPs who have questioned the payment have not done so for monies that have come into the country from foreign entities to influence local politics. The supporting reference offered is a report of millions of dollars sent to a local civil society group(s) to promote the rights of sexual minorities.
This funding report is true, but also true is that the law against them was foreign funded. This whole discussion is a red herring that has stayed out of the water for a long time. It is best left ignored. Let’s look at the facts instead. The Parliamentary Commission enjoys wide latitude in setting the emoluments of MPs, who are some of the highest earners off the public purse.
Whatever figure it settles on should be public. Ideally, the justifications or the formulas used in determining parliamentary pay and benefits should also be transparent to the public.
In the same vein, any additional payments to MPs must be declared to the public; how much the MPs received, for what purpose, and whether the money was spent correctly. Needless to say, such ad hoc payments should be in a traceable manner; to the MPs’ bank accounts, not handed out in cash bricks as it appears to have been the case this time.
The principle of separation of power presupposes that Parliament is a separate arm of government that represents the people, writes the laws, appropriates budgetary allocations, and keeps an eye on the other two arms. In what world is it able to discharge these duties if its members are called upon to receive cash payments from another arm of government? Would it be okay for judges and magistrates to be called around to an office to receive money from Parliament or from the Executive in the dark?
Why do we think it is okay for that to happen to MPs in every parliamentary term? These payments and practices commercialise and corrupt the political culture. It makes politics transactional and politicians available to the highest bidders – local and foreign. Laws are then written or passed to favour entrenched interests.
Politicians become less accountable to the people they represent, breeding resentment, apathy and a heightened risk of political violence. Honest leadership at the top can solve this problem. But it can also be solved by voters at the bottom of the pile in this way. In the upcoming election, check if your MP received this money and extract as much of it out of them. Then vote for someone else. If politics has become a feeding frenzy in which voters pay the bill, then let the politicians pay the price.
The writer, Daniel Kalinaki, is a journalist and poor man’s freedom fighter.
[email protected]; @Kalinaki
