The Shs10 billion that Members of Parliament allocated for themselves last week as they passed the Shs304 billion Supplementry Budget to fight Coronavirus is becoming a saga. Some MPs say they are going to return it, others have given it out, and others want the Speaker to give them more since the Shs20 million given to each is “not enough.”
Yesterday, Speaker Kadaga asked for the Attorney General William Byaruhanga’s input as the Court Order that was intended to halt the distribution of this money to the MPs came in late, for the Parliamentary Commission had already sent it out to the MPs.
Today, in Parliament, the Attorney General has said that although the Clerk to Parliament has presented evidence to him showing that the Shs10 billion was paid on April 17, and yet the Court Order was issued on April 21, 2020; the Court Order is binding and it is incumbent to Parliament and government that it is respected.
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Byaruhanga has informed the House that any money spent (by MPs) after the April 21, 2020 amounts to contempt of court.
The Attorney General’s information has been met with disagreement from the Speaker and other MPs, and the Speaker has gone on to warn banks that are interfering with MPs’ accounts that they will be sued.
She added, “By interfering with the Shs10 billion, the judge is interfering with the whole supplementary of Shs304 billion. That means it is all under injunction. It was all in one bill.”