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Uganda to splash Sh700 million on Museveni’s new cars

By Freya Wanjiku January 13th, 2023 2 min read

Uganda is set to spend about Sh700 million to purchase new vehicles for President Yoweri Museveni and vice-president Jessica Alupo.

As per the Observer, the funds, requested under the State House Budget framework paper which is currently under scrutiny before a parliamentary committee on presidential affairs.

Security minister Jim Muhwezi said President Museveni and Alupo needed new vehicles to ‘ease their road movement’.

“There is a need to reconsider the deduction and also consider the fact that the item is grossly underfunded given the aging fleet of vehicles for the principals,” he said.

President Museveni is known to value and treasure his official cars and even had them shipped to Nairobi, alongside his official mobile toilet, when he attended the swearing in of President William Ruto in September 2021.

If approved, the purchase of the new cars will be done barely a year after parliament procured Sh80 million worth of vehicles for Speaker Anita Among and her deputy Thomas Tayebwa.

Media reports indicate the vehicles had been procured from a firm in the UK with questions as to whether taxpayers got value for money in the deal.

The purchase of the vehicles for the Speaker and his Deputy created an online uproar with Ugandans currently grappling with the high cost of living.

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics shared a National Labour Force Survey (NLFS) 2021 which indicated that of every 10 households in the country, six are financially struggling and as a result, 60 percent of the households could barely afford basic commodities.

The report also indicated half of the Ugandan working population which accounts for about 20 million people who are engaged in gainful employment get a monthly payment of about Sh6,000 or less.

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