The Human Rights Committee Chairperson Janepher Egunyu Nantume told URN that they are facing some administrative challenges, which have hindered the start of the work. According to a source within the committee, Parliament didn’t budget for standing committees in the third quarter and they are only waiting for the next course of action.
The Human Rights Committee of parliament
has decided to postpone investigations into cases of electoral violence due to
funding.
The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has directed the Committee to
take stock of the human rights violations that marred the electoral
process. Although the committee was expected to start work last week and
conclude in a month, URN has learnt that it doesn’t have money for fieldwork.
As
part of the investigations, the committee has planned to interact with
Presidential candidates, security agencies including the police and the army as
well as the victims of the said violations.
Each MP on the committee earns Shillings 400,000 in per diem for a day
while the other members of delegation get between Shillings 200,000 and 300,000
per day. There are 30 members on the committee.
At least Shillings 100 million is required on
average for the committees depending on the number of days. Parliament pays for
the meals and accommodation separately among other requirements for the
legislators and parliamentary staff.
The Human Rights Committee Chairperson Janepher Egunyu Nantume told URN
that they are facing some administrative challenges, which have hindered the
start of the work. According to a source within the committee, Parliament
didn’t budget for standing committees in the third quarter and they are only
waiting for the next course of action. “We have to go to the field, you have to pay the security officers, the
drivers, and take care of business but this money is not there, we only have
the allowances of MPs,” the source said.
Standing committees do last for
two and a half years and are set up at the start of a new term of Parliament and
after two and half years. The Probe may
or may not happen since the 10th Parliament is ending in May, and a proposal to
have the investigations done in the next quarter (April-May) could be delayed.
Hellen Kaweesa, the Acting Director Corporate and Public Affairs of Parliament,
says that budget cuts have affected most departments of Parliament because of
the COVID-19 pandemic situation. She says that some activities including
committee work has been put on hold especially that requires moving out of
Parliament.
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URN could not find out how much money was cut from Parliaments' budget.
Parliament has an estimated budget of Shillings 600 Billion.
Alex Otto
Freelancer