Kyadondo East Member of Parliament (MP) Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu alias Bobi Wine has distanced himself from the 20m shillings that is according to parliament, going to be advanced to every MP to engage in the fight against Coronavirus.
Kyagulanyi said that he had not yet received this money and if he does, he would return it because MPs don’t need money to carry out their roles.
Earlier this week, Parliament allocated itself shs 10b to engage in the fight against the spread of the Coronavirus. Each MP, according to sources in Parliament, was to receive 20m shillings in order sensitize their communities.
In a lengthy Facebook post on his page, however, the politician cum singer distanced himself from the money saying that its allocation is not just shameful but insensitive to the plight of Ugandans who are facing challenges that range from hunger, sickness and death.
“Ugandans are bearing the brunt of this predicament. There have been reports of numerous people failing to access health centers due to limited transport means, and as a result some have succumbed to various ailments. A huge number of people across the country are in dire need of food, healthcare and other essential amenities. The government has not done much to help them,” Kyagulanyi said.
Kyagulanyi noted that Ugandans are justified to be very angry by the selfish action of their ‘representatives’.
“Our view, however, is that Ugandans should be angrier at the manner by which they are governed – the 20 million shillings is a symptom of a bigger crisis which we are fighting to resolve.”
Kyagulanyi said that the cardinal roles of an MP include legislation, representation, budget allocation and government oversight and none of these roles require them to be an extension of the executive to be accorded a separate budget in order to extend services to the people.
Kyagulanyi re affirmed that he had not received the money and even if he did, he will return it.
“Should it be deposited on my account, I will immediately order my bank to return it to the Consolidated Fund and demand that it is put to its proper purpose. We must learn to empower institutions and not seek to enrich individuals,” Kyagulanyi said.
The ‘People Power’ leader said that the focus of the nation should be on building a robust healthcare system and empowering the healthcare practitioners with all they need.
Kyagulanyi’s post comes at a time when the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga had warned MPs against speaking about the shs 10bn that they allocated to them. Kadaga said that it was only her and the parliamentary commission that understand and are permitted to speak about it.
