The National Unity Platform (NUP) has condemned government for giving Members of Parliament Shs200 million each to purchase cars when the nation is still grappling with dire effects of Covid-19 lockdown.
The party’s acting president also Opposition Chief Whip John Baptist Nambeshe says this is one of the very many aspects of wastage of public resources which NUP has been critical of, including the billions spent by State House every day.
“While we know that Members of Parliament need vehicles to travel to and from their constituencies, NUP believes that MPs are some of the most well paid public servants who can afford to buy vehicles for themselves. In our manifesto, we made proposals on how to tackle nugatory public expenditure so as to prioritize the welfare of our people,” Nambeshe said in a statement on Friday.
” While at our leaders retreat in April, NUP members of parliament resolved to devote a substantial amount of Sh200 million grant towards the welfare of their constituents. Ordinarily, public services should be carried out by government, but that happens when you have a government that cares for the people. It is this regard that most NUP MPs have already been undertaking projects in their constituencies aimed at elevating the conditions of the people.”
Nambeshe further noted that in the coming days, individual NUP MPs will continue to carry out projects in the respective constituencies, mostly targeting healthcare, education, agriculture and youth empowerment programs.
He also revealed that the option of returning the car money to the consolidated fund was discussed but not taken up because the same regime would not put it to any meaningful or proper use.
“It was also realized that every constituency has specific needs and challenges and therefore it would not be plausible to carry out one project across all constituencies. The party will continue to publicize our members’ projects. We thank the people of Uganda for being vigilant and request to continue holding their leaders accountable,” the Manjiya county MP concluded.
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