The coronavirus disease pandemic and the general lockdown restrictions imposed to slow its spread have brought much of the world and life in Uganda to a halt.
People have lost livelihoods, freedoms, rights and a sense of normalcy. The pandemic is leaving broader swathes of unemployment, lay-offs, salary cuts, deprivation and hunger. To survive, Ugandans are begging from anyone and everyone especially their government, politicians, neighbours and members of parliament.
"This is the worst time to be an MP," said Asuman Basalirwa, the MP representing Bugiri municipality.
In a day, he said, he receives about 150 phone calls from constituents and rural folk begging for financial help. To get a feel of the torment MPs go through every day during the lockdown, this reporter spent a full day with Basalirwa just days after President Museveni energized the public onslaught against the lawmakers for appropriating Shs 10bn or Shs 20m to each legislator to ostensibly assist them fight the spread of the novel coronavirus.
In his own words, President Yoweri Museveni said recently during his twelfth address to the nation, "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..."
In defense, the MPs led by speaker Rebecca Kadaga said they too are getting unprecedented levels of requests for help from constituents and residents in places they stay.
"We are receiving a lot of calls and messages on our phones, but for every 10 of such calls or messages, nine are requesting for food, others are asking for medical assistance, others school fees... Now maybe fees not too much because children are at home but after the lockdown, they will all come. By the way, we had already started spending money even before getting this supplementary. Every MP here has spent more than Shs 30m," a furious Kadaga told a hastily arranged press conference at parliament a day after Museveni's assault.
A Ugandan MP earns between Shs 30m and Shs 64m in salary and emoluments, depending on where one's constituency is located. The farther away from Kampala the constituency, the more the emoluments.
But are MPs really besieged as they say; are they receiving unprecedented volumes of phone calls and messages requesting for help?
We sought to find out. Asuman Basalirwa surrendered his phone to The Observer for a day and night, for us to experience firsthand what he goes through on a daily basis.
The first-time legislator said he ordinarily gets calls for assistance, but the magnitude during the lockdown has been without precedent. On Sunday, May 3, Basalirwa gave his phone to this reporter at 2 pm but with one concern: "I'm not sure they will tell you what they are calling for, if they hear it's not me speaking."
"Trust people who are cornered; they will say why they were calling if I tell them the honorable asked that you tell me why you're calling,"
I replied. Indeed, all of the callers stated why they were calling.
Within three minutes of receiving the old-fashioned 'kabiriiti' Nokia (preferred by MPs for its battery life; smartphone batteries would not handle the traffic), it rang five times.
All the numbers were not saved in the phone contacts, which meant that they were new callers, or unknown to Basalirwa. I did not pick those calls to know why they had called.
But from 2pm to 9:52pm when the last call came in, Basalirwa's phone rang 63 times. Someone even called at 4am, but I was dead-asleep.
When I relayed this tally to Basalirwa, he said that was on a lower side.
"There are days during the lockdown when I got more than 150 calls."
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