Kasambya County Member of Parliament, David Kabanda who subscribes to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has claimed that he is shocked the public is ‘overreacting’ about the Shs200 million that was given to MPs in the 11th parliament.
On Wednesday, the Director of Communication at Parliament, Chris Obore said that government had availed funds to the legislative arm to facilitate each of the 529 MPs and the 26 ex-officio members to purchase brand cars.
The public questioned the timing of spending about Shs108 billion amid the pandemic crisis hence labelling the expenditure lavish.
Various political figures have come out and given their view about the matter and the latest is MP Kabanda.
According to Kabanda, becoming an MP in Uganda is expensive and the five-year tenure comes with its own challenges too and retaining the seat is also another high cost. And so he believes that the Shs200m is ‘a drop in the ocean’ for MPs.
“People spend close to Shs1 billion to become MPs but giving them Shs200 million becomes a big deal. I bet none of the MPs still has the Shs200m with these unending calls from voters,” said Kabanda.
Yesterday the National Unity Platform legislators agreed not to return the money but rather contribute Shs10m each to the party and use the balance for different projects in their respective constituencies.