MPs blow Shs 2.2bn on trips

Ugandan taxpayers have forked out an astronomical Shs 2.2bn to fund foreign travel for lawmakers for just four months, at a time the economy has come agonisingly close to a shuddering halt.

This financial year, Parliament received a total expenditure vote of Shs 162bn. Of this, Shs 8.5bn has been allocated to facilitate at least 300 of the 344 legislators on foreign

 travel for the financial year 2011/2012.

The Shs 2.2 billion spent so far on MPs’ foreign travel in four months translates into an average of Shs 550m being spent per month. If this rate is to be maintained in the course of its five-year lifespan, it means the 9th Parliament will spend Shs 33bn on allowances for foreign travel alone.

Even then, the figure is likely to rise significantly due to unforeseeable circumstances. For instance, by the time the parliamentary budget was drawn up, it had not been anticipated that an ad hoc committee would be set up to investigate the oil bribery allegations leveled against some government officials.

Parliament’s spokesperson, Helen Kawesa, admitted that the expenditure might appear high to the public, but she put it into perspective, telling The Observer on phone yesterday, that MPs are VIPs who travel Business Class and enjoy relatively high per diems. Kawesa also said that Parliament is sensitive of the current economic situation and thus insists on strict accountability for the money spent on foreign travel, including presentation of reports and boarding passes.

Besides the usual sitting allowances, Parliament will spend money to fund the seven-man committee to travel to London and Malta to verify information that the accused ministers held bank accounts there on which the bribe money was wired. With runaway inflation dampening hopes of economic growth and a majority of Ugandans beginning to feel the knock-on effects, the expenditures appear to be out of touch with the economic outlook.

While presenting the 2011/2012 national budget in June, Finance, Planning and Economic Development minister Maria Kiwanuka said amongst the austerity measures the government would undertake was limiting inland and foreign travel. According to travel records The Observer has obtained, covering the months of August, September, October and November, it appears Kiwanuka and the lawmakers are singing from a different hymn book.

Already overburdened by the high cost of providing other perks for Parliament, like purchasing fuel-guzzling four-wheel vehicles, this travel bill is the last thing taxpayers would want to learn of. MPs are entitled to an allowance of Shs 1.4 million ($550) for each day they spend out of the country on official duty.

An MP is expected to use part of this money to cater for his/her accommodation in case the host does not provide this service. However, the Speaker, deputy Speaker and Leader of the Opposition earn a higher per diem because they are entitled to other perks, like travelling with a spouse and support staff. They also occasionally meet delegations while abroad and need facilitation for this.

Yet, the allowances the legislators carry from home notwithstanding, on many occasions, they also receive a per diem from their foreign hosts. In neighbouring Kenya, East Africa’s biggest economy, the MPs’ per diem for travel abroad has been increased from about $525 to $1,000 (Uganda Shs 2.6 million) per day, a decision that met stiff flak from the public before it was approved.

In Uganda, the lucrative side of foreign travel for MPs came to the fore recently when Kanungu Woman MP, Elizabeth Karungi, questioned the criteria used for choosing who travels.

“Madam Speaker, what criteria are used to select MPs for foreign trips? Some of us have not got a chance to travel outside,” Karungi said in a feat of rage.

Lawmakers indebted to banks and shylocks, and others buffeted by various demands like contributing to funerals in their constituencies, have used the opportunity of foreign travel to offset their debts.

Next week, some lawmakers are scheduled to travel to Bujumbura, the Burundi capital, for the East African inter-parliamentary football games.

Sources have told us that many of those travelling will prefer to use the free bus service provided by Parliament rather than purchase a return air-ticket, which costs about Shs 910,000, to enhance team spirit but also save on their travel allowance. For the ten days that they will spend in Bujumbura, the over 20 MPs will each pocket Shs 14 million.

The costly trips

As others wait for their turn, some have already made the much coveted foreign trips –– but at a heavy cost to the taxpayer.

For instance from October 10 to 15, MPs Odonga Otto, Peter Omollo, Olivia Kwagala, James Mbahimba and Amos Lugolobi, and a parliamentary staff, Alice Nyamwenge, visited the United Kingdom for six days on a study trip. Shs 103 million ($37,025) –– roughly Shs 15m per day — was spent on this trip alone.

From November 22 to 26, MPs Dr Kasiruvu Atwooki, Jennifer Egunyu, Boaz Kafuda, Lucy Ajok and Margaret Kiboijana, and a parliamentary worker, John Jones Ssentumbwe, travelled to Ethiopia to attend a workshop on regional best practices for a textile policy to be implemented in Uganda. This trip cost Shs 67.4million ($24,086), including air-tickets and accommodation.

Earlier this month, Kasirivu Atwooki attended a two-day regional parliamentarians’ dialogue on enhancing competitiveness through increased investment in Nigeria. His trip cost Shs 7m ($2,534).

Before him, Tororo county MP, Geoffrey Ekanya, attended a global conference on the role of Parliament in the governance of oil, gas and mineral resources in Ghana between November 1 and 2. His package for the trip amounted to Shs 12m ($4,330).

But the cost that eclipses all the other travel expenses so far this year was Speaker Rebecca Kadaga’s trip to Bern, Switzerland, to attend the 125th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly that took place between October 13 and 19. The seven-day trip cost taxpayers a whopping Shs 755m ($269,547), an average of Shs 107 million per day.

Kadaga’s delegation included MPs Emmanuel Dombo, Paula Turyahikayo, Reagan Okumu, Elijah Okupa, Lulume Bayiga, Rona Ninsiima, Ruth Achieng, Peter Abrahams Loki, Sulaiman Balyejjusa, William Nockrach and Maj Gen Julius Oketta.

Some of the parliamentary staff that attended the conference include: clerks Paul Wabwire and Emmanuel Bakwega; Sergeant at Arms, Ahmed Kagoye; and Parliament’s publicist, Helen Kawesa. Other parliamentary staff that travelled were: Ignatius Kasirye, JB Kagoro, Maria Nassali, Martha Kaganzi, Kenneth Nyiiro, Moses Matovu, Bernard Mubazi, Lillian Nsubuga, Jackson Abigaba and Rebecca Konso.

Between September I and 4, Kadaga, alongside other lawmakers, spent another Shs 175m ($62,613) during the Uganda North American Association (UNAA) convention in the USA.

The MPs who travelled with her were: Sam Otada, Edward Baliddawa, Florence Mutyabule, Ann Maria Nankabirwa, Richard Todwong and Ali Kasule Kabuye.

Last week, the deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, was facilitated to a tune of Shs 112 million ($40,162) to attend the African Caribbean Pacific/European Union joint parliamentary assembly in Togo. The week-long conference, which began last Wednesday, November 16, ends this Wednesday, November 23.

Oulanyah is accompanied by MPs Rose Akullo Akol and Yowasi Bihande, and parliamentary workers Jennifer Mujungu, Martha Kaganzi and Mr R. Kaweesa.

Before he travelled to Togo, Oulanyah, on November 2 to 4, attended the Global majority 3rd International Conference on Genocide, a three-day trip that cost Shs 48m ($17,148).

In defence of Parliament, spokesperson Kawesa noted that foreign travel is governed by thorough procedures to avoid abuse, including approval by the Legal committee, the Parliamentary Commission, the Speaker, and even the Office of the Prime Minister.

Justifiable or not, the travel bill of Uganda’s lawmakers is in sharp contrast with the plight of majority of their constituents, who live on less than Shs 2,600 ($1) a day.