There have been a lot of heated discussions about the proposal to give sh60m to every MP to buy a four-wheel drive vehicle. This follows another matter where the MPs were said to have demanded for a salary rise. Most people who have contributed to the debate have been against the proposals. This brings into focus the point of departure in the relationship between the electorate and the MPs. When funds are used for MPs’ comfort at the expense of more pressing needs of the electorate, outrage ensues.
The demand for a salary rise is a consequence of the commercialisation of elections (I personally conducted my campaigns with hardly any money, and I want to thank my constituents for electing me in spite of that, or because of it).
Until we have grown out of the campaigns of eating, politicians will continue to be hungry for money after elections. Political campaigns should be an open arena where issues of national and community importance are presented, and not where other forces like intrigue and vote-buying determine who wins. Only then shall we have true democracy steeped in patriotism and recognition of the plight of the common man.
The craze for four-wheel drive vehicles is unpatriotic and exploitative. How can an MP who did not own a motorcycle before coming to Parliament and was walking during the campaigns suddenly realise that two-wheel drive vehicles are not suitable for his or her constituency?
There was public outrage when some MPs received sh5m for kisanja. What should we expect when all MPs get twelve times that figure? It is interesting that ‘opposition’ MPs who were in the 7th Parliament and criticised the kisanja money are quiet about the vehicle scheme or are defending it.
The demand for four-wheel drive vehicles by MPs shows greed and extravagance, given that the country is paying heavily on public administration because of a large Cabinet, a big army of Presidential Advisors, a fat budget for State House and President’s Office, and unnecessary RDCs who all have four-wheel drive vehicles whose fuel and maintenance is paid for by the tax-payer. Let the size of Parliament be reduced by half and four-wheel drive vehicles be replaced by two-wheel drives.
It is true that rural constituencies have very poor roads which are almost impassable, especially during rainy seasons. However, tax-payers should not pay for the vehicles. Moreover, MPs who represent constituencies with a good road network such as municipalities and other constituencies in urban centres are also asking for the same vehicles. I advise those asking for four-wheel drive vehicles to resign if they can’t stand the heat.

My constituency (Kaberamaido District) is the only district I know of that does not have even a kilometre of a tarmacked road. The town centre has potholes filled with bricks! If only half of the sh60bn to be spent on four-wheel vehicles was used to buy two-wheel drives, probably we would have better roads. Treat the cause (poor roads) and the symptoms (four-wheel drives) will disappear. What is the point in driving a four-wheel vehicle which cannot even carry four of my constituents in case of a problem? Are the four-wheel drives the answer to the biting poverty and underdevelopment among the masses?
Will the vehicle bring confidence to a graduate frustrated by nepotism or a father desperate to feed his family? Will it bring optimism to a youth discouraged by inadequacies, or health to a population threatened by disease, malnutrition, and insecurity? Will it?
Kaberamaido District is represented by three MPs. Apart from the poor roads, we have other bigger problems like healthcare, education, transport and biting poverty. The health centres lack drugs, beds and mattresses while ambulances are too few for the district. If Soroti Referral Hospital could use a candle during an operation on a patient, what is expected to be happening in Kaberamaido District which is only six years old?
School structures, scholastic materials and teachers’ morale are all lacking. Lack of accommodation for public servants in the district is a perennial problem.
The distance between Kaberamaido and Soroti is three times that between Kampala and Masaka, but the transport fare is the same because of poor roads and, of course, the prevailing sense of insecurity. Out of the sh180m supposed to be paid to the three MPs from Kaberamaido, we can save sh100m by buying cars worth sh26.5m each. With sh100m saved and financial support from the central government, the donor community and NGOs, we can take the district to a new level of development.
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