There’s no money to purchase the Speaker and her deputy’s helicopter- Government

By Watchdog reporter

Government has said there’s no money to purchase the Speaker and her deputy’s helicopter which was budgeted for in the next financial year; the helicopter was to cost $5.5m in the 2017/18 financial year.

According to the Observer newspaper, a government official said, “There is no money. The country has many unfunded priorities and a helicopter for parliament may not be one of them”.

This comes after President Yoweri Museveni announced that the government will reduce all sector budgets by 10% to facilitate oil production.

A few days ago, State House comptroller Lucy Nakyobe told press that 2017/18 State House budget will be reduced from shs257.4billion to shs242.7billion.

Recently, Parliament budgeted for a helicopter for the Speaker and her deputy in the government’s overall strategy document for the 2017/2018 financial year that will cost 19.9 billion shillings.

The helicopter is reportedly meant to ease the speaker’s travels across the country.