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A Presidential Order for Increased Security Measures for MPs, Including Snipers and Armored Escort Cars, Received last week with cheers and immediate criticism. this time of turmoil about insecurity and badbadinations at the national level, deputies like Winnie Kiiza, (Leader of the Opposition in Parliament), Beatrice Anywar, Francis Mwijukye, Patrick Kasumba (NRM) , Arinaitwe Rwakajara pleaded for the security of the whole country instead of protecting only the 452 deputies
An badysis of the cost and benefits of securing the 452 deputies shows that it will take a lot of money, from soldiers or police and escort cars to keep them safe. And such a deployment of human and financial resources will mean that other Ugandans will remain poorly served, naked and possibly exposed to crime, warned security experts.
Here's why. According to competent security officials, in terms of human resources, a Hilux double-cabin escort vehicle with an open transport bed can accommodate a maximum of six policemen or soldiers. There are four security guards behind and two forward, including the commander
. This means that the government will have to deploy about 2,712 security guards to escort our 452 MPs wherever they go. In military terms, this number of escorts can be likened to about three battalions of soldiers. A battalion is composed of 300 to 800 soldiers.
Asked if the army can deploy all these soldiers to keep MPs, the Army and Defense Brigade Richard Kalemire said: "We have not received the directive but what I can say, we have the ability to protect MPs and our people. "
" We will cross the bridge when we get there, "he added.
The number of bodyguards needed to get MPs raises troubling questions about the need for such a deployment to secure so few Ugandans. A member of parliament oversees a constituency, which may have two to three sub-counties. Each sub-county has about 10,000 people and a police station is run by about two police officers. So with six police officers or soldiers observing a single member, that would mean that the legislator would be traveling with a protective shield that would have allowed about 30,000 people in his riding to feel a little safer. Also imagine what the 452 escort cars would do if they were turned into police cars. At present, each of the 118 districts that make up Uganda has a police patrol car, which responds to each incident; an badbadination, an accident, said an official of the internal police.
And in some sub-counties, officers in charge of police stations or post offices use motorcycles or bicycles as modes of transportation. The addition of 452 escort cars to the police fleet would improve the visibility of the police, its presence and its response to incidents
This would greatly contribute to the fight against crime. And it appeared last week that the government may have to borrow or forego some budgeted activities during fiscal year 2018/19 if the presidential directive to provide "snipers" to monitor each member Parliament must be updated. President Henry Ariganyira Musasizi (East Rubanda) told The Observer that the purchase of vehicles would be treated as an unexpected expense normally financed either by additional spending, or by borrowing or reducing and reallocating funds.
This means that the budget will suffer directly from a budget cut or the removal of certain activities, or that the government will be forced to borrow more money to finance these unforeseen expenses, "he said. said Musasizi last Monday. In a letter to Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, dated June 29, 2018, President Museveni said that MPs had been intimidated and possibly attacked by terrorists. He ordered the urgent purchase of escort pickup vehicles with open car beds for each legislator.
"I have decided to protect MPs pending the implementation of these security measures, but I will add two elements: the army snipers and the pickup trucks. that will be used by them against small caliber bullets ", said Museveni in the letter
THE COST
. ] Snipers, however, will have a huge cost. It comes after the government went through the budgeting process.
The government will now have to pay at least between $ 160,000 and $ 220,000 for each pickup truck for the 452 MPs. The number of legislators will increase to more than 460 after the holding of the new municipal elections by the end of the year.
If we take the lowest cost of $ 160,000 or 595 m shs (at the current exchange rate), this means that the government will have to spend $ 72m (Shs 269bn) to buy the cars alone. This figure is an estimate of the industry by the suppliers.
Next, the president also suggests that the guards should be equipped with bullet-proof jackets and helmets, also at taxpayers' expense. According to bulletblocker.com, an online newspaper containing information on military clothing, a simple bulletproof jacket costs at least $ 640 and a $ 300 helmet
This means that the government needs at least 1 $ 000 to carry balls. The Observer calculated that the wear of the guards will cost $ 2.7 million (10bn shs). So, finance must quickly find Shs 279bn. And this figure will increase because going forward; the taxpayer will also have to provide the fuel and the maintenance of the vehicles.
The government will also have to find additional parking spaces along Parliamentary Avenue to accommodate additional traffic.
Yet the estimated amount is more than a third of the overall agricultural sector Shs 831bn. But when recurrent expenditures are eliminated, this is almost equivalent to the total agricultural budget spent on development expenditures.
The 2018/19 budget notes that agriculture employs three-quarters of Ugandans and contributes at least 24% to the country's gross domestic product.
Already, the government has struggled to implement the tax measures announced in the 2018-2019 budget to raise funds, with an outcry against the mobile money tax and social media. Many people have bypbaded the social media tax using virtual private networks.
The government must look for other sources to raise funds. The fast being domestic loan. This also has implications for private companies that will have trouble accessing money because banks prefer to lend to the government.
Already, a report from the Bank of Uganda 2017 shows that the investment of commercial banks in government securities increases by 2.2 trillion shillings their loans to the private sector of a meager 168, 4 billion shs in 2017. The consequence is the continued slowdown of the economy
PUBLIC EXPOSED
The call to provide more security to VIPs, where deputies fall, means more people ordinary will be left exposed. In particular, this comes at a time when in April the Ugandan police announced that it was closing 1,663 police stations due to constant attacks and inefficiency to respond to crimes
"The council of Police ordered the closure of the police stations.The council advised us to focus on creating a police station in each sub-county where the police and their equipment can be well protected and well managed. " said Emilian Kayima, a police reporter in Daily Monitor
.The crime inflicted on ordinary people has decreased.According to the summary of the Bureau of Statistics 2017 of Uganda, the number of serious crimes investigated by the police is rose from 7,416 in 2012 to 32,198.
The money needed to ensure the safety of MPs is eight times higher than the government. "The MP for Maracha, Denis Lee Oguzu, asked why the government had found necessary to quickly find money for MPs' security needs while priorities such as health care lacked funding
. "When we wanted the government to take care of all the elderly through the Sage program, the government said that there was no money and when we asked the government to store drugs in hospitals, the government says that there is no money. Oguzu said, "This now confirms our earlier badertion that this government could probably be one of the most important. extravagant governments that Uganda has had in history. Already, State House is costing the Ugandans a lot of money and here we are imposing taxes on the Ugandans – where do we get that money? Added Oguzu.
Julius Mukunda, national coordinator of the civil society budget advocacy group, described the directive. by the president as an act of budgetary indiscipline and lack of focus on the state of security in the country.
"The number of deputies killed in relation to that of ordinary people killed is less consequent than the money would rather go to the budgets of" The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Secretary of the Treasury, Keith Muhakanizi, said that the ministry will advise the president on the best way forward given the limited number of vacancies, "said Mukunda.
" Whether we found the money or not, all I can say is that we will advise the president or implement his directive as best as possible, people are biased for nothing, the constitution is very clear, we follow the president's instructions, but of course it is also our duty to advising him on the best way to implement his decisions, "said Muhakanizi
Museveni said that when the security measures were in place,
" We will do away with the has individualized security, which is actually a waste of resources, financial and human. Act fast and wait for speed, "said Museveni's letter to Kasaija
" With these measures, we reaffirm to our people that Uganda's security is unshakeable. These measures may take a few months to be put in place, our people to train on them. I have therefore decided to protect parliamentarians pending the establishment of these systems, because they are being distinguished, "said Museveni.
The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has told the deputies that the parliamentary committee sit and decide on the presidential directive.
But MP Arinaitwe Rwakajara, a member of the commission, said that there was nothing to discuss: "What can we discuss? It's a presidential directive and therefore not ours; Rwakajara told The Observer
that the executive director of Uganda Media Center Owpo Owondo said that the presidential directive does not necessarily mean that all MPs will receive elite snipers. army.
"Some will get overt security, others a secret security. In fact, some already have secret security; According to Opondo, security officials must review Museveni's directive and advise him on what is feasible: temporary or not, if it is enforced, the cost of escort security for legislators will only be not only Leave a huge cut on the public purse, but also a bitter taste in the mouths of ordinary people.
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