Parliament was wrong to share shs10bn Covid-19 money while country is in crisis- Museveni

President Museveni has described as morally unacceptable; the act by Parliament to allocate itself shs10 billion Covid-19  money yet the country is grappling with a crisis.

Parliament allocated itself Shs10 billion while passing the shs304 billion supplementary budget which saw each Member of Parliament given shs20 million to help fight Coronavirus.

The controversial move has since seen a backlash towards the legislators from members of the public.

Addressing the country on Tuesday, the president said the manner in which parliament behaved is not morally right.

“We had planned in another way and you come and change! It is not a good way. It is morally reprehensible for MPs to give themselves money for personal use when the country is in such a crisis; and totally unacceptable to me and to the NRM,” Museveni said.

The president said the MPs should not have laid the trap for themselves that has since seen members of the public go against them.

Museveni however noted that he had instructed the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga and the Prime Minister, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda to ensure the MPs give the money to their respective district Covid-19 task forces other than using it themselves.

“I met the speaker and told her they had entered themselves into trap and best way to get out is not spending them money on themselves. We agreed they take the money and donate it to district task force where they come from.”

The president also revealed that he had asked the Auditor General to audit some of the MPs who had already used the money to buy relief items for their electorates.

He however asked Ugandans not to be angry against the legislators despite mistakes they (MPs) committed in sharing the money.

“I appeal to you not be angry because it will be sorted. Don’t be angry and be diverted from our war,”Museveni urged members of the public.

Despite receiving the money, several MPs had returned it saying they cannot be party to it.

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has however continued to defend parliament on the money.

“The members were getting calls for expenses on fuel and it had now become a burden to the MPs. They came here saying ‘find us some money from Parliamentary budget,” Kadaga said while appearing on NBS Television’s Morning Breeze.

She noted that part of the shs10 billion  will be used to maintain the ambulances contributed by Parliament and individual MPs, provide fuel and pay allowances for the drivers of the ambulances already released by MPs to help the Covid-19 taskforces at district level.

 

 

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