By Nancy Kachungira 

Government is set to spend Shs165bn to buy cars for Members of Parliament in the 11th Parliament.

 This means that each MP will receive Shs321m as motor vehicle allowance. The next Parliament will have over 527 MPs.

The item of Cars for new MPs is captured in the budget framework paper for the 2021/2022 financial year as one of the critical unfunded priorities.

The Speaker and Deputy Speaker will also have to get new cars for their convoys. The Leader of Opposition and the five commissioners are also entitled to special privileges.

Vehicles for new Members of Parliament and compensation for cattle in Acholi, Lango and Teso are among the critical priorities that remain unfunded in the budget estimates for next financial year.

According to the budget framework paper for the 2021/2022 financial year, there are budgetary pressures that government is facing that total to Shs5.99 trillion.

However, after review of the pressures, Government says the critical funding areas will require Shs3.19 trillion.

Among the critical pressures is the classified equipment project under ministry of defence requiring Shs1.026 trillion which has been fully provided under the proposed allocations, Uganda National Oil Company Capitalization (UNOC) requiring Shs539.9bn of which Shs100.6bn has been indicated under the proposed allocations and salaries, pensions and gratuity requiring Shs492.4bn of which Shs170.1bn has been proposed under the budget estimates.

The critical areas which remain fully unfunded under the proposed allocations are the recurring supplementary from the current financial year requiring Shs388.6bn, compensation for cattle in Acholi, Lango and Teso requiring Shs200bn, counterpart funding for the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Program requiring Shs381.5bn and Vehicles for new members of parliament requiring Shs165bn.

In the 10th Parliament, Government spent nearly Shs110bn on motor vehicle funds awarded to MPs; the money was released in two installments with MPs getting Shs100m each in October 2016 following a release of Shs64.5bn and the balance in June 2017 after the release of Shs45.8bn.

The 11th parliament is set to see the amount spent on the MP’s car allowance rise by 55bn shillings to 165bn shillings owing to an increase in number of MPs from 448 to 514. This translates into a cash out of 321m shillings per MP.
The budget framework paper says that the priorities that have not been covered or partially covered will be funded through tax policy and administrative measures that are still under review and the process is expected to be complete by the end of January 2021