Prime
Legislator queries former Speakers’ vehicles
The vehicles that were given to Prof Edward Rugumayo, the Speaker of the National Consultative Council; Mr Francis Butagira, Speaker of the Fourth Parliament; Alhajj Moses Kigongo, the Deputy Speaker of the National Resistance Council which was the Fifth Parliament; Mr Edward Ssekandi, Speaker of the Seventh and Eighth Parliaments; and Ms Rebecca Kadaga, Speaker of the Ninth and 10th Parliaments. PHOTO/COURTESY OF PARLIAMENT
What you need to know:
- Mr Kwizera said Mr Butagira does not also qualify because he could only claim salary and gratuity while still Speaker.
Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mr Norbert Mao, have been asked to recall some of the new sports utility vehicles (SUVs) which Parliament gave to former Speakers or face legal battles.
In a petition seen by this publication, the Bukimbiri County MP, Mr Eddie Kwizera Wagahungu, also asked Mr Kiryowa and Mr Mao to institute a law that will guide pension allocation to politicians.
Mr Kwizera said it doesn’t make sense for one person to get five vehicles just because they served in five different offices that entitle them to the benefits.
Speaker Anita Among on December 18 handed over the SUVs to her predecessors including Mr Edward Ssekandi, who served from 2001 to 2011), Mr Francis Butagira (1980 to 1985) and Ms Rebecca Kadaga (2011 and 2021).
Others were Prof Edward Rugumayo, who was the chairman of the National Consultative Council (NCC) (1979 to 1980) and Moses Kigongo, the vice chairman of National Resistance Council (1986 and 1996).
Ms Among said Prof Rugumayo, Mr Kigongo and Mr Butagira benefited because the 2022 amendment of the Parliamentary Pension Act, 2006 legally added them.
The trio had allegedly earlier received their gratuity as their retirement benefit based on the Parliament [Remuneration of Members] Act No. 1 1981.
Through his lawyers Victoria Advocates and Legal Consultants, Mr Kwizera told Mr Kiryowa and Mr Mao that it was illegal for the trio to get the vehicles since the third section of the Parliamentary Pension Act 2006 includes predecessors who were serving as MPs by the time of its enactment.
“The Parliament [Remuneration of Members] Act No. 1 1981 provided for gratuity and salary as the only claims [the three had] against government.
Unlike Mr Butagira who once served as a Speaker, Mr Kwizera said Mr Kigongo and Prof Rugumayo are not defined as Speakers because they merely presided over councils that sat in the parliamentary building.
Mr Kwizera said Mr Butagira does not also qualify because he could only claim salary and gratuity while still Speaker.
The enacted Pension Act of 2006 has so far been amended three times in 2011, 2015 and 2022 but section 3 states that, “This Act shall apply to any person who, on the date of commencement of this Act, was a Member of Parliament...,” has never been changed.
However, the director of Communication and Public Affairs at Parliament, Mr Chris Obore, said the MP was being discriminatory and unrealistic.
“The work of Alhajji Kigongo as vice chairman of NRC is recorded in the Hansard of Parliament thus part of the record of Parliament. The nomenclature used then did not stop it from being the work of Parliament. Prof Rugumayo and Mzee Butagira presided over the House at different times. Whether they were paid gratuity or not, Parliament deemed it logical to care for them better than the previous law provided,” he said.
Mr Obore said when Mr Kwizera suggests that only Mr Ssekandi and Ms Kadaga retain the Parliament benefits and at the same time want them to be taken care of by the Executive where they currently serve, he is not only contradicting himself.
“A good legal reform would focus on general principles, not targeting individuals. The petitioner is discriminative,” he said.
Mr Kwizera said a proper law should be created to guide the pension of politicians and avoid duplications, wastage of resources and abuse.
“The purpose of pension is to put the pensioner in a position nearer to what was being enjoyed. Instead, the law now puts them in a far better position than they enjoyed,” he said.
“Look at a person like the former VP Ssekandi, he got his car as former Deputy Speaker, now as Speaker, as former VP and now as a presidential adviser he is entitled to one, what time does he drive all the cars? Its abnormal,” Mr Kwizera said.
The Executive currently has the Emoluments and Benefits of the President, Vice President and Prime Minister Act which stipulates benefits that are enjoyed by its retired officers.
He asked AG to institute measures for introduction of an Amendment Bill to delete the contested provisions in the Act or wait to hear from his lawyers in two weeks’ time.
Mr Kiwanuka said he had not received the letter and promised to give a comment after getting it.
What the law says
The Parliamentary Pension (Amendment) 2022 included Speakers and Deputy Speakers who held office from 1980. Under this Act, the Speaker or Deputy Speaker who ceases to hold office by retirement, are entitled to an allowance equivalent to 60 percent of the monthly salary of the sitting office holders respectively. They are also entitled to one four-wheel chauffeur-driven car of between 3,500 and 4,000 cubic capacity, two security guards and two domestic staff. They are also entitled to medical care, including their spouse(s) and an allowance equivalent to 33 currency points (Shs660,000) per month for utilities.
