{UAH} Allan/Pojim/WBK: Guess what’s going to be on Museveni’s mind? - Comment
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Guess what's going to be on Museveni's mind?
Last time President Yoweri Museveni was sworn in five years ago, the big function was almost marred by the return of his runner-up from a Nairobi hospital wearing dark glasses.
Dr Kizza Besigye was not making a fashion statement with his shades; the man had been undergoing intense treatment after being sprayed in the eyes with pepper.
This was during a season of political protest dubbed Walk-to-Work that was officially inspired by economic hardships occasioned by runaway inflation arising from campaign spending.
This coming week, Museveni will be sworn in against a background of another economic protest, this time not by opposition politicians but from a bipartisan push by Members of Parliament who insist he must sign the Income Tax amendment Bill of 2016 that seeks to exempt MPs from paying tax on their allowances, which actually constitute 90 per cent of their monthly take-home.
The MPs argue that the allowances, mostly for fuel, actually get spent on fuel to go to their constituencies and if the standard 30 per cent Pay As You Earn tax is deducted, then they will not be able to reach the constituencies.
Ministry of Finance officials, particularly the Secretary to the Treasury, have told off the MPs, saying we should not have a law that discriminates among taxpayers.
Ugandan workers lost the battle against PAYE on allowances long ago when the government realised that employers were categorising most of the pay as allowances, leaving only a tiny sum as salary for the state to tax, which is what MPs have done with the Bill exempting their allowances from tax.
Now the MPs have issued an ultimatum to the president: Either he assents to the Bill or they won't pass the 2016-17 national budget, a process that has a deadline that expires in a few weeks. Then they will still proceed and make the Bill law because they have the power to do so if the president refuses to assent to it three times.
The framers of the law could have been thinking of how Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock's crowing.
Yet after the February election, President Museveni had warned the MPs of the ruling party who form the parliamentary majority against trying to raise their pay.
They did not disagree but have now cleverly abolished their tax, in effect raising their pay by 30 per cent.
How do the MPs and the president get out of this one? One MP tried to cause a withdrawal of the Bill to amend it to exempt everyone instead of only MPs, but she was advised that after a Bill is sent to the president for assent, it cannot be recalled.
If the president does not agree with a Bill, he returns it with his suggested amendments and if parliament doesn't agree, they send it back to him with their remarks.
If the ping pong goes on for three times, the MPs have the upper hand and they make it law, thereby humiliating the president. Any Ugandan will tell you that Museveni won't allow this. So to sign or not to sign, is now the question.
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