A heated session in Parliament was abruptly halted on Thursday when Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa blocked a debate on the rising prices at the Parliamentary canteen. The move came after Alioni Yorke, a lawmaker from Aringa South raised concerns about the new contractor operating the canteen, questioning the legality of the procurement process and the steep increase in food prices.
During the session, Hon. Yorke took the floor to express his dismay at what he described as an illegal operation by the new canteen contractor. He highlighted that staff who previously paid Shs8,000 for a meal are now being charged Shs18,000, while MPs who once paid Shs 14,000 are now facing charges as high as Shs 45,000 per plate.
“I reached you on the matter about our welfare at the canteen. We have a new service provider who is operating illegally. Our Parliament staff who used to get a plate of food at Shs8,000, from this week, they are being charged Shs18,000 per plate of food. MPs who are here used to be served a plate at Shs14,000. As I present it now, a plate of food is charged Shs45,000. There was no evidence of an advert that was put out to have this new service provider in our canteen. Procedurally, are we moving right without addressing this important issue?” questioned Yorke.
However, Deputy Speaker Tayebwa swiftly dismissed the debate, arguing that it was inappropriate to discuss such matters on the floor of Parliament. He suggested that raising concerns about the prices and the procurement process was tantamount to lawmakers overstepping their mandate under the guise of fighting corruption within Parliament.
“For a Member of Parliament to go out in public on the food we supply, that the Government pays for, to say that someone is doing it at Shs45,000, I will not allow a discussion of your food on the floor of Parliament,” said Tayebwa. “That one, we shall find a way of discussing it but not here. To discuss food, how much we pay for food as MPs, I think we are going beyond.”
Tayebwa explained that the previous contractor’s contract had expired, and a procurement process was followed to select the new service provider. He clarified that the price of a buffet for MPs, including a drink, had increased from Shs13,983 to Shs21,000, and for staff, from Shs10,000 to Shs13,000.
“MPs, I think we are overstepping our mandate. I think you are about to go and ask how we clean. I think for some of us, it’s reaching a level beyond the fight against corruption to something really beyond,” Tayebwa asserted.
The Deputy Speaker further defended the Parliamentary Commission’s role in the procurement process, emphasizing that it was not within his purview to manage procurement directly. He recounted a conversation with Yorke, stating, “Alion came to me on that same matter, and I told him that I don’t deal in procurement; that is the work of the Clerk and the technical team. I told him that I would get information for him, whereby I told him I would get him the contracts. Next I saw a video of Alion saying how Parliament has been taken over, how Ugandans must come and reclaim Parliament, how food is being sold at Shs45,000.”
The debate on the canteen prices and the alleged procurement irregularities has sparked controversy, with some MPs calling for greater transparency and accountability in the management of Parliament’s internal affairs. However, with the Deputy Speaker’s ruling, it remains to be seen whether the issue will be revisited in a different forum or if it will be quietly shelved.
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