Members of parliament have approved a Shs 60 million salary for traditional and cultural leaders as directed by President Yoweri Museveni.
While preparing the 2024/25 financial year budget, parliament last month adopted the recommendation of the committee on gender, labour and social development and asked the government to provide Shs 31.330 billion for payment of monthly salaries to each of the 17 gazetted traditional leaders.
Previously, the government through the ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has been giving a monthly stipend of Shs 5 million to each traditional leader while on several occasions President Museveni has been donating means of transport. The kingdoms that were restored following their abolishment by the Obote I regime include Buganda, Bunyoro, Tooro and Busoga.
Also adopted by MPs is the recommendation to provide Shs 17.2 billion for the construction of palaces for the traditional leaders of Teso, Tieng Adhola, Buruli and Rwenzururu kingdoms as per the presidential directive. The army in November 2016 raided Rwenzururu kingdom’s Buhikira palace in Kasese town and bombed it down to ashes, killing over 100 cultural loyalists who were violently protesting the arrest of their king Charles Wesley Mumbere.
Flavia Kabahenda, chairperson of parliament’s committee of gender, labour & social development revealed in a report that the total annual budget requirement for emoluments for traditional leaders is Shs 32.170 billion but only Shs 840 million has been provided, leaving a shortfall of Shs 31.330 billion.
John Baptist Nambeshe, chief opposition whip wondered why Bugisu cultural institution has been conspicuously left out of the palace construction bonanza.
“I would like to remind or even impress it upon the minister whom I should salute in the insistent intervention of the rifts of the Bamasaba cultural institution and you are aware of the two pledges that the president has made pertaining the construction of the palace and you also know that government is also in arrears of rent to the land that is being occupied by the barracks and I don’t know why Bugisu is conspicuously missing on that list and moreover, Shs 17.2 billion is something good enough to stretch it to all these palaces including Bugisu cultural palace,” said Nambeshe.
Betty Amongi, minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development in response said that the palaces are being built for cultural institutions that have land titles and without any leadership conflicts.
“On the issue of the palaces, I have all the directives but before I bring the directives to the House, I need to have the land title. Most of the palaces that we have left here, they haven’t given us land titles. There should be no conflict in the case of the many that we have left, there are conflicts that haven’t been resolved. But for Bugisu, I haven’t seen the directive but the Shs 17 billion can accommodate the cultural institutions that have no contestations,” said Amongi.
Usuk County MP, John Bosco Okiror welcomed the proposal of the construction of palaces for traditional leaders at the expense of taxpayers but asked to have the funds for Iteso palace to be placed under the ministry of Teso Affairs in order to ensure effective monitoring.
“However, there is a bit of adjustment we made that for purposes of cultural institutions of Iteso and Kumam they should be delisted from this and brought under the ministry of Teso Affairs. The ministry of Teso Affairs is an affirmative ministry, the cultural institutions by law are under the ministry of Gender, I have just talked to a technical person in the ministry of Teso Affairs, they are saying the Shs 200 million on social media is out of their ingenuity because they feel a lot of pressure when they are down but they are saying that obligation isn’t supposed to be our responsibility,” said Okiror.
Deputy speaker Tayebwa asked Okiror to present his views on which ministry should be in charge of these funds before the budget committee, before a final decision on the matter is taken.
Adopted with slight edits from Parliament Watch
