BY ARTHUR ARNOLD WADERO
The government has started remitting Shs200 Million to the 529 legislators of the 11th Parliament to enable them to buy cars.
The Director of Communications at Parliament Mr Chris Obore added the money is part of the entitlements that all Members of Parliament are meant to get.
“That is true, we got a release to give members their money which you know is a ritual that each member has to be given money to buy a car. There is nothing to hide there. It is once in five years period benefit that members are going to get,” Mr Obore confirmed in a telephone interview.
“It is Shs200 million and it’s what the other Parliament got. In other words, they are getting what the 10th Parliament got,” he added.
In 2016, the lawmakers in the 10th Parliament also received advancement to facilitate them in purchasing the cars.
The money has been wired at a time when major sectors of the economy are struggling to survive through the shocks triggered by the Covid and or worsened by the 42 day-long lockdown that was last month imposed by President Museveni.
Other benefits of MPs
At the close of every month, an MP has an assured net salary of Shs6.1 million besides a string of benefits that include a housing allowance of Shs6.5 Million, constituency support fee of Shs17.03 Million plus a town running fee of Shs1.945 Million. Ministers or Ex-officials that don’t represent any constituency are exempted from the constituency fund.
Fuel allowance that ranges between Shs10.3 Million and Shs31 Million per month also adds to the list of benefits of MPs. Its computation is premised on the distance of one’s constituency from Kampala hence positioning Kampala MPs with the least fund on fuel or mileage as it is best referred to. The MPs that fetch the highest mileage are the national MPs, usually, the national youth representatives, UPDF, PWDs and Workers MPs.
