Uganda Parliament is seeking
for Sh 200 billion for the construction of new Parliamentary chambers to
accommodate the increasing numbers of Members of Parliament.
The sh200 billion is
contained under the unfunded priorities of the parliamentary commission for the
financial year 2012/ 2013.
“We want these funds
through regular funding. The current chambers were designed to accommodate only
80 MPs but now we have close to 400 MPs occupying the chambers,” said
parliamentary Commissioner Chris Baryomunsi.
The parliamentary
commission members led by commissioner Jaria Bintu were on Wednesday appearing
before the parliamentary committee on legal and parliamentary affairs to defend
the commissions’ budget estimates for financial year 2012/2013.
According to the deputy
Clerk of parliament in charge of administrative services, Kaija-Kwamya, the
construction of the new chambers would take three years should the commission be
provided with all the required funds.
“We want Sh 20 billion
annually for the next five years or so to be provided in our budget towards the
construction of new chambers. If this is done, we may not need to borrow,” said
Kaija also informed the
committee that government had directed parliament to vacate Bauman house by May
31, 2013 and shift to development house to avoid renting.
“The prime minister
wrote to the speaker of parliament saying government would not renew the
tenancy agreement for Bauman house and that it would avail development house as
office space for MPs currently using Bauman house,” added Commissioner Emmanuel
Ddombo.
However the commission
expressed concern over the limited space at development house saying it would
not be enough to accommodate the over 150 MPs at Bauman house.
“At development house
there is space for only 83 MPs yet there are over 150 MPs at Bauman house with
some sharing office space while others operating in corridors , if we shift to
development house, 67 MPs will have no office space,” noted Kaija.
SOURCE: NEW VISION
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