Leader of Opposition (LOP) Mathias Mpuuga has defended the move by government to avail Shs200m to each Member of Parliament in the 11th parliament to buy a new car.
When news broke yesterday that government has already disbursed the money to each MP, the public accused the August House and government of not being considerate amid the fight against COVID-19.
A section of the public did some quick maths which indicated that the money spent on new cars for MPs can purchase over 7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
However, Mpuuga defended the move saying MPs are the government in the respective areas and so they will use part of the money to feed their constituents.
“The MPs won’t spend all the Shs200 million because they are the government in their constituencies. MPs should be facilitated to do their jobs,” Mpuuga said.
He however accused the ruling government of not allowing the opposition to actively participate in the mega plan to fight COVID-19.
Mpuuga said that government has kept them in the dark on matters to do with COVID-19.
“The government has turned COVID-19 into a regime thing; they never wanted to share anything with us. When we were debating the 2021/22 budget, we asked, “Is this a normal budget for a country facing a pandemic?” said Mpuuga.
The Leader of Opposition further questioned Gov’t’s priorities in the fight against the pandemic.
“The priorities of this Gov’t are elsewhere; that is why the epicentre of COVID-19 was situated in State House. The institutions that are supposed to manage COVID don’t have money yet we voted them but it hasn’t been availed like we offered $18m for COVID vaccines,” said Mpuuga.
He added, “You will need a witch doctor to convince people that we need pickups more than ambulances. We are dealing with a virus and the government is working like a virus.”