Court has no prerogative in determining how members of parliament use their bank accounts, the speaker Rebecca Kadaga has said.
Kadaga said this in response to the attorney general, William Byaruhanga who warned MPs that failure to obey a court order stopping the disbursement and withdrawal of the Shs 10 billion to MPs would be contempt of court.
Early this week, court issued an interim order stopping the parliamentary commission from disbursing the money, following an application by Ntungamo Municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga and the Erute South MP, Jonathan Odur. Byaruhanga said MPs who spent the money after April 21 when the court order was issued, would be held to be in contempt.
However, Kadaga who has been at the forefront of defending this disbursement, said the commission had already transferred the money, by the time the order was issued. She accused the attorney general of encouraging the judiciary to overrun parliament. Kadaga said that by court interfering with the Shs 10 billion allocated to MPs, it was also interfering with the whole supplementary budget of Shs 304 billion because it was all in one bill.
According to the court order issued by justice Esta Nambayo, the MPs are not supposed to use the money even when they receive it until the matter is decided upon by the court on April 29. But Kadaga said that the status quo upon which the court ruled was that the money had already been sent by the parliamentary commission and that this status quo should be maintained.
She added that the MPs were not party to the suit, and that court had no business to interfere with their accounts. The attorney general insisted that the court is entitled to make the order.
"That court order was overtaken by events. However, that court order is binding and it is incumbent to parliament and gov't that the court order is respected contrary of which, tantamounts to contempt of court," Byaruhanga said.
According to Byaruhanga, the clerk to parliament presented evidence to him showing that the Shs 10 billion was paid on April 17 and yet the court order was issued on April 21.
Kadaga, a lawyer herself, said MPs who have already received the money on their bank accounts can go ahead spend it on activities aimed at containing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Kadaga told parliament this afternoon that in a meeting she held with President Yoweri Museveni and Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda yesterday Wednesday, they discussed how best MPs could be incorporated into government structures to fight the spread of the coronavirus disease in the country.
She said that henceforth, MPs will join and be incorporated into the respective district COVID-19 task forces as members. She said that the structure and leadership of the district shall remain as is and that MPs representing special interest groups will be absorbed in the National Task Force where interventions will be coordinated.
The parliamentary commission received an allocation of 10 billion Shillings as part of a supplementary budget to facilitate activities to control the spread of coronavirus disease. From this allocation, each of the legislators received Shs 20 million, raising controversy on the exact role that the MPs were going to play when the country is on lockdown.
Kadaga said that since the country's districts are not homogenous with needs differing, each district will determine how best to utilize the funds.
"I want to remind members that it is not only the Shs 20 million of the MPs funds, Shs 163m has been sent to the districts for the same activity. No one is talking about it. That money has gone to the district for the COVID measures. The [resident district commissioners] RDCs have been given Shs 55m for the same activity. So the members of the district taskforce will agree on the best intervention depending on the priorities but may include food, emergency supplies or emergency relief," Kadaga said.
She added that accountability for the money shall be made to the clerk to parliament and copied to the chief administrative officer of the districts. She also urged that MPs shall adhere strictly to the government guidelines on COVID-19 pandemic and shall not personally get involved in the distribution of food or materials.
"For avoidance of doubt, members shall not organize meetings in his or her constituency. Adhere to each of the national guidelines especially on social distancing among others. Each member of parliament shall use his or her official identity card issued by parliament for issues of traveling by the respective task forces and participation in those activities as will be designed by the district task forces." she said.
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