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Ferhiyo Ismail Ali

Editor (Africa)

 

UGANDA — Members of the Ugandan parliament will receive free iPads, at an estimated cost of $3,70,000. Uganda’s newspaper, The New Vision stated that the reason for this is to speed up the process of legislation and to make MPs more efficient and competent.

Emmanuel Dombo, parliamentary commissioner, stated that the budget for paper, which will no longer be needed, has been cut to fund the iPads. It will enable MPs to access official sources, documents and statistics while travelling. This new plan, however, has been criticised on several grounds. BBC’s Patience Atuhaire in Kampala stated that many Ugandans see this as a waste of money. With their luxurious salaries, MPs can afford to buy one of their own without the funds from the government, which could be used elsewhere. Opposition MP Semujju Ibrahim Nganda told on the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme that: “Taxpayers are already paying too much to take care of their MPs.”

It was only in 2012 when MPs voted to raise their salaries by 38%, to more than $8,000 a month. In addition to this luxury, MPs were also granted more than $41,000 each to purchase an automobile of their own choice. In a country of political corruption and poverty, this is indeed a very absurd call. Emmanuel Dombo nonetheless supports the decision, describing it as “administrative”.

Many Ugandans have expressed their anger towards this decision. The funding for the iPads could had been used to improve the country’s schools, hospitals and roads. There seems to be no valid reason to why MPs are getting such a generous allowance and luxury when their country is struck by poverty. The move has left many Ugandans wondering why MPs are being given priority at the expense of the taxpayers. A collective parliamentary decision could had been made to improve the country and the standards of living, instead of funding $3,70,000 (£2,30,000) worth of technological gadgets, which the MPs could have afforded with their own salaries.

Image Courtesy: William Hook (http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamhook/5885303390/)

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Ferhiyo Ismail Ali

Ferhiyo Ismail Ali

Farhiya Ismail Ali, an undergraduate student at Cardiff’s School of Journalism at Cardiff University – UK, is the Africa editor for The Global Panorama. Farhiya is interested in international news and global events; and writes across various arenas, such as politics. Apart from her desire to broaden her horizons and the vision of the world, Farhiya wants to pursue a career within the Journalism field of international news and foreign reporting.
Ferhiyo Ismail Ali

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