Ugandan MPs have been ordered by a High Court to repay a sum of $5,000 they received each to fight coronavirus in their constituencies.
The court gave the order after independent MP Gerald Karuhanga filed a case over the issue.
Karuhanga and a few MPs rejected the money when the parliament approved the package totaling around $2.6m.
Prominent lawmaker and presidential hopeful Bobi Wine condemned the scheme and described it as shameful.
The High Court had already issued an injunction over the scheme but the speaker of Uganda’s parliament said the money had already been paid into MPs’ bank accounts.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni earlier on Wednesday condemned the move and called it “morally reprehensible”.
“It is morally reprehensible for MPs to give themselves money for personal use when the country is in such a crisis; totally unacceptable to me and the NRM.
They have entered themselves into a trap and the best way out is to donate the money to the districts where they come from,” he said on Twitter.
He added that “I heard that some MPs went and bought things, you are not a purchasing officer of the state. This is public money, not personal money, if you spent it wrongly you will pay it back with your salary; this will be sorted out by the Auditor-General.”
Those who interfered with our war on COVID-19 through distributing these things they bought should be warned. How do you arrest Zaake (MP) for the same crime and you leave these ones of the NRM who are purchasing food and collecting people?
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) April 29, 2020
Uganda has confirmed 79 coronavirus cases with 52 recoveries and no deaths yet.
Source: Africafeeds.com
