The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has asked the Attorney General William Byaruhanga to guide parliament on a court order stopping the disbursement of sh10 billion allocated to the legislature for activities aimed at containing Coronavirus- COVID-19.
The court order against the Parliamentary Commission was secured on Wednesday morning, April 21 through an application by Ntungamo Municipality Member of Parliament Gerald Karuhanga and the Erute South MP Jonathan Odur. They challenged the procedure leading to the allocation from which each MP is to receive 20 million Shillings.
The money is part of a supplementary budget of 304 billion Shillings approved by parliament on April 4, 2020 for COVID-19 activities implemented by the different sectors of government.
But Kadaga says that by the time her office received the Court order, the money had already been received by the Parliamentary Commission and disbursed to individual MPs. She asked the Attorney General to offer guidance on how the Court order which she described as confusing can be implemented.
Kadaga’s communication follows media reports indicating that MPs had started receiving money into their accounts despite a court order halting the process. Two MPs, one who banks with Centenary Bank and another with ABSA confirmed to Uganda Radio Network-URN that they had indeed seen a credit in their bank account of 20 million Shillings.
“I have received the morning today morning, but some of my colleagues received it yesterday evening,” the MP from Northern-Uganda told URN on phone. The MPs preferred to speak off the record as the matter is controversial and involved the courts.
According to the court order, the MPs are not supposed to use the money even though they receive it until the matter is decided upon by the court.
Meanwhile, the Clerk to Parliament Jane Kibirige has today written to all members of Parliament who need to return the disbursed funds and advised them to wire the money to the Parliamentary Commission NTR account in Bank of Uganda. She said that the Parliamentary Commission will not receive cash refunds.
“It has come to the knowledge of the Parliamentary Commission that some Members of Parliament wish to return the 20 million Shillings paid to them last Friday 17 April, 2020. The Parliamentary Commission shall not receive the refund in cash due to the COVID-19 and the associated risks” reads Kibirige’s letter.
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