It is unacceptable that the Government is spending the way it is!
Jul 08, 2003
SIR— Which way Uganda? The HIV/AIDS scourge is ravaging through the land though we have learnt to cope with it.
SIR— Which way Uganda? The HIV/AIDS scourge is ravaging through the land though we have learnt to cope with it. The war in northern Uganda is causing us sleepless nights; but with a little more effort, it will surely be a thing of the past. And now our Members of Parliament (MPs) in whom we had vested so much trust, want to blatantly loot our Treasury. They have turned public enemy number one.
How can the MPs talk of pension? Pension for what? Is being an MP a profession? Do we have career MPs in Uganda?
Let’s be serious. If an MP’s term ends, he/she goes back to his (pensionable) career. For instance, Matembe will go back to law, Specioza Wandira Kazibwe to medicine, Edward Kasole to teaching, Bidandi Ssali to business, Museveni to cattle.
Therefore, I say, what do they need pension for? We currently give them a princely sh4.5m a month for just talking for us. When their terms expire, they will cease talking for us. Should we, therefore, be obliged to pay them for keeping quiet? We have been irrevocably betrayed.
If our representatives have turned against us, who will save us from them? Though Uganda is a docile, fatalistic and pitifully meek society, should we take this thieving lying down? I suggest we pump some sense into their heads. I see three options. One, we kneel down and pray to God for mercy and redemption. Two, we revoke the relevant clause in the Constitution and recall all the MPs. Three, we go on strike en masse. Unfortunately, the expert in conducting strikes in the country, Mr Ken Lukyamuzi, is an interested party and is among the errant MPs. Let me be excused for talking with a lot of anguish; but the MPs’ suggestion has provoked me beyond measure. At the rate at which new constituencies are being created, soon every sub-county will have an MP. For the record, Lubaga Division (subcounty) has two MPs. Did these people consider the monetary implications? In an effort to cut down on the budgetary expenditure, the same MPs seeking pension want a reduction in both numbers and emoluments of RDCs and presidential advisers. Before asking for pension, did the MPs consider the pitiable pay for teachers, nurses and farmers who voted them in? Is claiming for hefty pension the only way the MPs can show their patriotism? If Ugandans do not support me in the protest for this injustice, then as a sign of my bitterness for our fatalism, I will stop voting. So help me God.
Freddie Luswatakafuluma
Kampala
SIR— It is heartening that the Government has finally recognised the fallacy of living beyond its resources and decided to cut administration costs by doing away with many public officers. It is not right that politicians and top civil servants should feather their nests at the expense of the majority of Ugandans. The situation is going out of hand and the heavily taxed common man is getting bitter. A country is like a family. It is inconceivable that the father or mother should decide to take the lion’s share of everything. Now the MPs want to be covered by a pension scheme! If they want a pension, they should work it out within their already unjustifiable pay package. Things should not continue like this. Hundreds of teachers have not been posted because there is no money to pay them, yet we have a string of presidential advisers who earn in millions. Are MPs more important than teachers or doctors?
We have a deep-seated structural problem. This is wrong because it is selfish and irresponsible spending of public funds. The so-called advisers should also be laid off along with the other officers to be laid off because they are an unnecessary burden to an already overstretched public purse. This is unacceptable! Where did the fundamental change go?
James Mwesigwa
Kampala
How can the MPs talk of pension? Pension for what? Is being an MP a profession? Do we have career MPs in Uganda?
Let’s be serious. If an MP’s term ends, he/she goes back to his (pensionable) career. For instance, Matembe will go back to law, Specioza Wandira Kazibwe to medicine, Edward Kasole to teaching, Bidandi Ssali to business, Museveni to cattle.
Therefore, I say, what do they need pension for? We currently give them a princely sh4.5m a month for just talking for us. When their terms expire, they will cease talking for us. Should we, therefore, be obliged to pay them for keeping quiet? We have been irrevocably betrayed.
If our representatives have turned against us, who will save us from them? Though Uganda is a docile, fatalistic and pitifully meek society, should we take this thieving lying down? I suggest we pump some sense into their heads. I see three options. One, we kneel down and pray to God for mercy and redemption. Two, we revoke the relevant clause in the Constitution and recall all the MPs. Three, we go on strike en masse. Unfortunately, the expert in conducting strikes in the country, Mr Ken Lukyamuzi, is an interested party and is among the errant MPs. Let me be excused for talking with a lot of anguish; but the MPs’ suggestion has provoked me beyond measure. At the rate at which new constituencies are being created, soon every sub-county will have an MP. For the record, Lubaga Division (subcounty) has two MPs. Did these people consider the monetary implications? In an effort to cut down on the budgetary expenditure, the same MPs seeking pension want a reduction in both numbers and emoluments of RDCs and presidential advisers. Before asking for pension, did the MPs consider the pitiable pay for teachers, nurses and farmers who voted them in? Is claiming for hefty pension the only way the MPs can show their patriotism? If Ugandans do not support me in the protest for this injustice, then as a sign of my bitterness for our fatalism, I will stop voting. So help me God.
Freddie Luswatakafuluma
Kampala
SIR— It is heartening that the Government has finally recognised the fallacy of living beyond its resources and decided to cut administration costs by doing away with many public officers. It is not right that politicians and top civil servants should feather their nests at the expense of the majority of Ugandans. The situation is going out of hand and the heavily taxed common man is getting bitter. A country is like a family. It is inconceivable that the father or mother should decide to take the lion’s share of everything. Now the MPs want to be covered by a pension scheme! If they want a pension, they should work it out within their already unjustifiable pay package. Things should not continue like this. Hundreds of teachers have not been posted because there is no money to pay them, yet we have a string of presidential advisers who earn in millions. Are MPs more important than teachers or doctors?
We have a deep-seated structural problem. This is wrong because it is selfish and irresponsible spending of public funds. The so-called advisers should also be laid off along with the other officers to be laid off because they are an unnecessary burden to an already overstretched public purse. This is unacceptable! Where did the fundamental change go?
James Mwesigwa
Kampala