Former speakers, deputies to get pension benefits

Members of Parliament (MPs) on Wednesday, September 08, passed the Parliamentary Pension (Amendment) Bill, which has provided for retirement benefits for former speakers and deputies from 1980.

The current Act, which commenced in 2007, had only provided retirement benefits to the speakers and deputies who assumed office with effect from 2007.

The Act states that where the Speaker or Deputy Speaker ceases to hold office by retirement, they are entitled to an allowance equivalent to 60% of the monthly salary of the sitting office holders respectively.

They are also entitled to one four-wheel chauffer-driven car of between 3,500 and 4,000 cubic capacity, two security guards and two domestic staff.

They will also be entitled to medical care, including their spouse(s), and an allowance equivalent to 33 currency points (sh660,000) per month for utilities. Each currency point is equivalent to sh20,000.

Where a former Speaker or deputy has died, Parliament resolved that the spouse or dependants would be entitled to a monthly allowance equivalent to 60% of the monthly salary of the incumbents.

This is in addition to other allowances to cater for transport, health and security as may be determined by the Parliamentary Commission.

The amendment to cater for previous speakers and deputies not catered for in the Act (those before 2007) was moved by Tororo North MP Geoffrey Ekanya and adopted by Parliament.

“We have former speakers and deputies whose children cannot afford anything, yet they are dignified people who have contributed to building this Parliament,” Ekanya stated.

To convince legislators about the proposal, workers’ MP Arinaitwe Rwakajara, who authored the legislation as a private member’s Bill, explained that the benefits for speakers and their deputies were previously not catered for.

She added that the benefits should be drawn from government and not from the MPs’ savings.

The Act was also amended to provide for dependants of a speaker and deputy when they die. The amended Act had only provided for the spouse to take the benefits.

Therefore, a person like former Speaker Jacob Oulanyah, who did not have a spouse at the time he died, could not have any of his family members taking the benefits. But Parliament limited the dependants to; a spouse, parents and biological children.

Borrowing from Pension fund

Meanwhile, some MPs called for the removal of the Uganda Retirement Benefits Regulatory Authority (URBRA) caveat stopping them from borrowing from their pension fund, saying instead of borrowing from commercial banks that charge them exorbitant interest rates, they could borrow from their own.

Tororo woman MP Sarah Opendi said: “This is your pension; your money, you have served for 10 years, why should I go to borrow from the bank at 16% when my money is lying there?”

Bubulo West MP Peter Werikhe said: “URBRA is an agent of commercial banks that charge members exorbitant interest. That is why we need to remove their caveat. It will give us an opportunity to borrow our money at a low interest rate.”

But several MPs including Bugabula South MP Maurice Kibalya, Sheema municipality MP Dickson Kateshumbwa and the Speaker of Parliament rejected the proposal, arguing the members’ savings would not be safe if borrowing is permitted.