{UAH} Shs 43.8 billion to be spent on workshops and seminars -On average,an MP earns at least Shs 500,000 from workshops monthly,

I spent much of Friday and Saturday at Speke Resort Munyonyo attending a conference, organised by the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), on the proposed Public Finance Bill and on Uganda's debt burden.

Those who have followed me know that I am not a staunch believer in workshops and seminars especially those organised in expensive hotels.

Unfortunately where I am, that is how things work. Bunyole East MP Emmanuel Dombo, who opened this workshop on behalf of the speaker, described seminars as a form of vacation for the MPs.

He said MPs used workshops and seminars to rest because their constituents and Parliament work had combined to deny them this right.

And I agree entirely with Dombo. What he forgot to add is that workshops and seminars have also become a source of livelihood to many of us in Parliament. I have seen MPs who are not on the invitation list turning up to attend these workshops.

In fact when an audit is finally done, many of us will be embarrassed. A big percentage of MPs arrive on the payday (final day) of the workshop just to collect per diem and any other allowances. These seminars, by the way, are more attended than parliamentary sittings.

Yes, I am a beneficiary because I also pick these allowances and sleep in these hotels but someone has to bell the cat. I hear President Paul Kagame had at one time banned these seminars in Rwanda.

In truth, I have benefited financially and knowledge-wise from these seminars but we better find a cheap way of disseminating information than workshops. I attribute more than 70 per cent of my knowledge on what is going on in the oil industry to these seminars, thanks to ACODE and MP Theodore Ssekikubo's Parliamentary Forum on Oil and Gas.

Last financial year (2012/2013), as a measure to reduce on wastage, His Excellency the president and NRM chairman, Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, literally banned seminars and workshops in his speech on the budget day. And to his credit, there were zero releases for most of the government departments on this item.

Unfortunately for him, it is only the pursuit of life presidency that he sticks to. He has now forgotten that he categorised seminars and workshops plus advertizing as luxury in last year's budget. Almost every sector and department has, in the new budget, been allocated millions for workshops and seminars.

I have now perused through 80% of all ministerial policy statements so far presented to Parliament and the total amount to be spent on workshops and seminars is Shs 43.8 billion. I hope, my dear readers, you know that Maria Kiwanuka, the minister of Finance, performs a delegated function. That is why when she said there was no money to do work on some of the roads in her budget speech, the owner of the budget clarified almost immediately that the money was there.

In fact the more you read these policy statements, the more you despise leaders. On average, I think an MP earns at least Shs 500,000 from workshops monthly, which is equivalent to the monthly salary of two primary school teachers. And of course the organisers of these workshops, who are usually civil servants, earn more. Interestingly many of these small hotels, especially upcountry, where we sleep, belong to these civil servants.

So, it is the country's elite conspiring to keep millions of Ugandans poor. Tourism, agriculture and industry are listed in the National Development Plan (NDP) as some of the 10 priority sectors. In this financial year's budget, tourism is allocated Shs 15 billion, which is far less money than what the president will use for his inland travels. The president was allocated Shs 36 billion for inland travel.

And the budget of these seminars is Shs 43.8 billion. If I had another country, like some of my colleagues in politics, I would have given up on Uganda long ago. Industry is a core national project listed in the National Development Plan but construction of industrial parks is allocated Shs 2 billion and seminars Shs 43.8 billion! The ministry of Ethics, these days a department in President's Office, has been given Shs 1.5 billion for workshops, almost the same figure we will spend on building industrial parks.

And I think some people have already given up on this country. If not, how do you explain the head of state traversing the country distributing bundles of cash? I hope you didn't miss the photos of Brig Proscovia Nalweyiso picking up bundles of money from something and handing them over to Gen Museveni to distribute to the leaders of veterans who had lined up at State House. Sincerely, where are we headed as a country?

God save Uganda.

The author is Kyadondo East MP.
semugs@yahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it



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