Return Monies You Awarded Yourselves To Combat COVID-19, Court Orders Lawmakers

You must return monies that you awarded yourselves to combat coronavirus, is the clear order that a court has given to lawmakers in Uganda.

A High Court made the order on Wednesday insisting members of Parliament (MPs) must pay back any money they received as part of a package they approved to fight coronavirus in their constituencies, local media reported.

An allocation of 2.4 million euros was paid into the individual accounts of lawmakers earlier in April, according to The Observer newspaper.

It must be repaid or transferred to national or district COVID-19 taskforces. The money was initially approved as part of a bigger budgetary package and was intended to be used for sensitisation about the virus.

READ ALSO: Four Sentenced For Attempting To Escape With A COVID-19 Patient

However, Africa News reports that the payment angered President Yoweri Museveni, who described it as “morally reprehensible”, hence he told them, You must return monies wrongly collected.

Uganda has confirmed 79 cases of coronavirus with no deaths, according to the latest statistics from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Early last month, Museveni has tightened restrictions to prevent further spread of coronavirus in the country.

In a televised address, he banned jogging on public roads and further limited operations of motorcycle taxis locally known as boda boda.

“I saw a video of so many people on the Northern Bypass walking and running around that they are exercising. This should stop. If you want to exercise, you can do that indoors. I will show you how it is done tomorrow [Thursday]. I will do a video for you tomorrow,” he said.

He also cautioned boda boda operators against carrying more than one passenger and limited their hours of operation to until 2pm.

It was Mr Museveni’s fifth address to the nation since the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the country, with tally of infections at 53 after one person tested positive on Wednesday.

The new restrictions come as Ugandans counted down towards the end of a 14-day total lockdown announced on March 30.

President Museveni, however, said that the lockdown would be reviewed depending on progress in tracing persons who have been in contact with coronavirus patients, according to an Allafrica.com news report