While chairing the parliamentary sessions today, July 12, 2023, Speaker of Parliament Hon. Anitah Among threatened to revive one of the house’s old practises of deducting allowances from Members of Parliament who miss plenary sessions and committee meetings.
“My sergeant at arms told me that what you were talking about, a time of payment and deductions, stopped in the 7th parliament, but we can resume it; let us not waste taxpayers’ money.”
“This is a people-centred legislature; we work for humanity, and we should be able to do so,” Among added.
The Speaker further stated that in order to manage the waste of taxpayers’ money used to pay MP salaries, measures to prevent MPs from absconding from legislative duties must be implemented.
She also requested a meeting with the Minister of Works and Transport, the Uganda National Road Authority (UNRA), the Uganda Police, the Government Chief Whip, and the Leader of the Opposition to discuss the authorities’ failure to remove all stationed cars along roads, which has resulted in a number of road accidents, with the majority of victims losing their lives.
Most MPs spoke on the floor of Parliament today on various difficulties in their communities, particularly in education, such as universal primary education and government bursaries, among others.
The speaker also requested that the Minister of Education appear in parliament to address concerns raised about the government spending a lot of money on student sponsorship when it appears to assist exclusively the wealthy.
