The opposition in Parliament has in its minority budget report for the FY2022-23 shredded allocations for State House and President’s Office, with legislators wondering what President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni and his wife Janet Kataaha spend these billions on.
Reading part of the minority report, Kira Municipality MP and Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda noted that the office of the President has been allocated a total of Shs147bn, translating in Shs400m per day.
MP Ssemujju went on to observe that State House, the President’s Residence, had been allocated Shs677bn, broken down as Shs1.8bn daily. In total, the presidency will spend Shs2.2bn per day.
He wondered what the money is used for since the two known occupants of State House are Museveni and his wife Janet. The MP further argued that it would be immoral to spend hundreds of billions on two individuals who even earn salaries.
“Mind you the known daughters of the president have all been married off and the known son has grown, he has even started a political movement called National Progressive Movement. The president and his wife plus their workers remain the only occupant of State House,” noted Ssemujju,
“It will therefore be immoral for this Parliament to approve UGX 677 billion for a residence of just two adults. Moreover the president and his wife, both of them are even salaried people. The reason the president is given a salary under the Presidential Emoluments Act is because, the country expects him to buy himself tomatoes and onions. If the president is using his salary, he will appreciate when citizens complain against high cost of living.”
But presiding speaker Anita Annet Among tasked Ssemujju to explain why he was mercilessly shredding State House’s budget. “Why are you insisting on state house, why don’t you talk about other institutions?” asked Speaker Among, to which Ssemujju replied: “It is very difficult to budget for a family whose members you don’t know.”
The Kira Municipality legislator further reported that the opposition had concluded that even if Museveni and his wife were to eat a whole cow and a 100kg bag of rice everyday, all State House would need is Shs73bn for the whole year.
