There are three things guaranteed in life: Change, death, and greedy politicians in Africa. People and things change all the time, every soul will taste death, and you are sure to read more ‘greedy’ stories of politicians in Africa than anything else.
At a time when world economies are descending into recession due to the unfortunate effects of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and our motherland Uganda looking everywhere for funds to finance the Ministry of Health in the fight against the pandemic, a group of people who are looked at as representatives of people’s views, ones that would have a better understanding of the country’s economic situation, decided to give themselves Shs10 billion on Wednesday as they passed the Shs304 billion Supplementary Budget. If this is not the height of greed and selfishness, I do not know what is.
The MPs gave reasons of course for this share of the country’s cake: “We have to maintain and service the ambulances we gave to the Ministry of Health in the COVID-fight, we have to sensitize the people in our constituencies,” among others.
These, and any other reasons only known to them have been put on the scale and they proved to carry no weight whatsoever in the eyes of Ugandans who find themselves stuck home with almost nothing to eat, nowhere to go, not being able to make it to hospitals conveniently, among other difficulties.
For the same, legislators have been labelled ‘legislooters’, for what they did surely equates to looting the taxpayers’ money.
Currently, some of our health workers on the frontline of this COVID-19 fight find themselves lacking Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and others are living on the mercy of donors that have provided them with buses to transport them to their duty stations, having had to pack themselves in Ministry of Health vans before this.
Government food relief has not reached the biggest part of the population, and I am sure those that received their share about two weeks ago have almost consumed it all, as the country goes into another 21 days of lockdown. The Busia quarantine facility at a primary school is worrying as people are just packed in rooms.
The MPs, who by no means need this kind of funding, are walking away with Shs20 million each, disguised as a fund to help them fight COVID-19. For what it is worth, they should be the ones donating this money to the National Taskforce for COVID-19. Because I mean, we have had people that earn literally peanuts like Police officer Maneno Ayikoru, the Kireka LC. I chairman and others donating to the Taskforce to fight the pandemic.
In the past, our honourable MPs, who earn ridiculous salaries and benefits monthly, have had the dishonour to give themselves more money that has had the population wonder whether they are indeed working for the people that voted them into Parliament, or working only to enrich themselves.
Currently, there is a hashtag #Block10bn trending on Ugandan Twitter, where Ugandans are expressing their disappointment and anguish towards the MPs’ actions.
As I said in the beginning, change is guaranteed in life and If COVID-19 is defeated in time and we have elections next year, there should be change in the people we are sending to Parliament.