Members of Parliament (MPs) from Acholi sub-region have come up with a thought to refund Shs2 billion of taxpayers’ money to the consolidated fund so that they get Ugandans off the back of Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah.
This comes in the wake of Parliament spending a whooping sum of $500,000 to charter a 252-seater Uganda Airlines Airbus to fly Oulanyah and a few of his family members and caretakers to Seattle, the US for specialized treatment.
The move drew angry reactions from a section of Ugandans – at the amount spent on a single individual as well as the persistent neglect and underfunding of the country’s healthcare sector which serves the majority of poor Ugandans who can’t be flown out of the treatment like the government officials, moreover at the taxpayers’ expense.
Lawmakers hailing from Acholi sub-region in northern Uganda (Acholi Parliamentary Group) on Thursday offered to refund the money after Ugandans in the diaspora took to the streets in Seattle to demonstrate against Oulanyah’s hospital admission. The protestors believed to be allied to the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) party held placards with wordings: “Officials from Museveni government are not welcome in Seattle.”
“Join our colleagues in Seattle in a peaceful protest against the Uganda dictatorship flying one of their corrupt and brutal officials for medical treatment in the US, while the regime has rundown hospitals in Uganda,” a post on UK Official People Power – NUP Facebook page read.
According to a report by the local newspaper, Weekly Observer, protesters congregated at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance for the demonstration that started on February 7 chanting, “Jacob Oulanyah, not in Seattle’s backyard,” ridiculing the government for spending Shs1.7 billion taxpayers’ money on a single individual.
Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, the Bardege-Layibi MP in Gulu city described the protest as a barbaric attack on the health and life of a right-thinking Ugandan rather than an attack on individual citizens.
“We’re very concerned with the manner in which some people have responded to the matter of our brother honorable Jacob Oulanyah being taken for specialized treatment in the US. We want to condemn the section of Ugandans who think our brother should not get treatment. This is an attack not only on him as an individual, but it is also an attack on all of us. Honorable Jacob Oulanyah is not the first Ugandan to travel abroad for specialized treatment and so why should he be targeted as an individual?” said Mapenduzi.
Lucy Akello (Amuru District Woman MP) however asserts that they will only refund the money if other previous government dignitaries who were flown abroad to seek specialized treatment are also compelled to refund the money that was spent on them.
“We’re praying hard that it is not NUP that is organizing demonstrations in the US. As I was talking to some of the Acholi leaders, they said if that is the case and the issue is money, then the people of Acholi are willing to start making contributions to refund that money – the Shs 1.7 billion but on condition that every Ugandan that used the taxpayer’s money also refunds. We’re willing to refund this money and even a child will contribute even Shs 100 from Acholi to save our brother. Blood is thicker than water, we’ll stand with the Rt Hon Oulanyah.” said Akello.
David Lagen, the Agago County legislator expressed surprise that fellow Ugandans who have sought refuge overseas can have the audacity to block their compatriots from seeking treatment given the ailing health facilities back home.
“I’m very surprised on the issue of our speaker. If fellow Ugandans living outside this country stand to condemn fellow Ugandans, this is wickedness. If this was a white person outside condemning, then we would say maybe because they don’t want us to stay in their country, but fellow Ugandans standing against a prominent leader in this country? This is uncalled for. So surely, we’re asking for apologies from NUP. We can’t accept this nonsense. We know the state of our healthcare services, we’re not 100% perfect.” Lagen added.
Oulanyah is not the first government dignitary being flown outside the country for medical treatment with previous dignitaries including Natasha Kainembabazi, first deputy prime minister, Moses Ali, former speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, and NUP MP Francis Zaake.