By Paul Watala

Residents and local leaders of Budaka have accused their Members of Parliament of shunning district functions and council sessions.

“It has now become a habit that our MPs only attend burials and wedding parties but shun district functions and council sessions,” said John Wasugirya, a councillor.

“How can all the three MPs afford to get busy at the same time and fail to attend Budaka’s occasion to mark 50 years of Uganda’s independence?” he asked.

The angry residents who had turned up for the Golden Jubilee celebrations on Tuesday at the district ground kept wondering why MPs did not attend without apology.

Wasugirya said that their MPs sometimes use their campaign agents to attend burials and tender in apologies on their behalf.

“There is one MP I will not disclose that I called for help when my father was sick but he told me to call him later and let him know if he had died,” Wasugirya said.

Another councillor, Mary Naisiga, said they are not witch-hunting the MPs but only demand that they make visits to villages more when Parliament is closed.

“It is us to tell them what to take to Parliament and seek solutions on what should be done,” Naisiga said.
“We have tried to task our councillors but they say when MPs are invited for council sessions they do not turn up, claiming to be busy.”

Budaka district LC5 chairperson, Author Mboizi, told the gathering that all the MPs were invited but refused to attend without apology and appealed to the voters to demand explanations from their respective legislators.

“We invited, Iki-Iki MP Jeremiah Twatwa, Budaka woman MP Susan Kataike and Budaka County MP, Hezekiah Mbogo and the response was that they had received the invitations,” Mboizi said.

Mboizi also appealed to the Government to recognise Bagwere heroes and a monument be constructed in their honour for their heroic struggle against colonial administration.  

However, resident district commissioner Magidu Batambuze, who was the guest of honour, called for peace and unity between the residents and local leaders as the only weapon to fight poverty in Budaka.

Batambuze thanked the people of Budaka for supporting the ruling party, adding that in the first twenty five years Uganda was full of violence, killings, undependable economy, no democracy and no woman emancipation.

He said that in the first twenty five years there were only two elections curried out but since NRM came on power it has managed to organize seven elections.

“Despite the fact that there are always few isolated cases of violence during elections, that can never miss in a growing democratic Government,” Batambuze said.