As of Tuesday, 8th April 2025, news circulating was that National Resistance Movement Members of Parliament and a few opposition members received 100 million shillings from H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
The cash bonanza is said to be a token of appreciation to the Honorable of the August House for passing the Coffee Amendment bill and its merging, and also to motivate them in massively supporting the Uganda Peoples Defense Forces Act in the pursuit to reinstate the Court Martial, which was annulled by the Supreme Court.
This has been considered a betrayal of the public by the MPs for satisfying their selfish desires and interests while many priority sectors beg for funds.
Currently, the Ugandan Parliament has 557 members, making it one of the largest in Africa, sitting in 6th place on the continent.
The ruling party, NRM, has 342 members, and if you are to add the 69 independent members, it means a sum of 41.1 billion shillings has already allegedly been shared.
Looking at that wholesome figure, it is enough to build several schools, hospitals, and many kilometers, to mention but a few.
This parliament is looked at as an institution high on corruption, and with billions or even trillions of dollars unaccounted for, because this is not the first time such an incident has happened.
In 2005, during the Constitutional Amendment for the Removal of Term Limits, it is reported that members received between 5 million and 20 million Uganda shillings to have that passed.
2017—Age Limit Amendment: This was widely known as the”Togikwatako,” translated as don’t touch the constitution. In its process reports, it shows that the MPs received about 30 million shillings.
Parliament explained that the money was given to facilitate members in consulting with their constituencies if they supported the amendment.
There was a recurrence of the same in 2018 and 2020, where government officials were given a presidential handshake of 6 billion shillings following the resolution of the Tullow oil tax dispute, and around 20 million Ugx was given to the MPs to fight against the coronavirus.
The local people keep questioning the integrity of the Parliament if, for any amendment, money must always be used to influence the results even amid massive public disapproval.
Some also believe that Mr. Museveni uses parliament as his tool to pass anything on the floor as he wishes, simply because he has the numbers and also because he uses the money to influence their choice.
Much as the major parliamentary role is to legislate on behalf of the Ugandans, it explains why the majority of the people who make it there are instead after money, explaining why so many are not popular in the eyes of Ugandans.
For instance, it is believed that for one to stand for a constituency around the central business district, they need about 2 billion shillings, which many get as loans and so strive hard to repay that money, forgetting the primary role for which they were sent to parliament.
It also accounts for the many members who don’t make it back to the August House because their voters question their representation on the floor of parliament, which they cannot account for.
A few years ago, the late Hon. Kato Lubwama was only begging his voters to send him to parliament to also eat, as he put it, ” Mundeko nange ndyeko,” painting a bad picture of the Honorable House.
In conclusion, as the old saying goes, “he who alleges, must prove,” many are looking up to the opposition in parliament to come out with clear evidence of this grievous allegation. This already portrays a bad image of the honorable house, be it true or false, and something should be done to redeem the image of the parliament.
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