Nakaseke district council have suspended some of the councilors’ allowances amidst protests over increasing costs of living and transport.
The council suspended allowances including welfare, night allowance, facilitation of committee chairpersons, extra allowances to salaried executive members, and ex officials. The councilors’ allowances were reduced from last year’s 200,000 shillings per sitting to 100,000 shillings as the district grapples with meager incomes.
In the last financial years, a councilor in Nakaseke could pocket over 400,000 shillings per month that included a sitting allowance of 200,000, monthly allowance of 100,000, transport allowance of over 50,000 shillings, and night allowance of 130,000 shillings among others. However in the current allowance structure, a councilor will pocket only 255,000 shillings that includes 30% of pay as you earn tax.
In a stormy council meeting at Nakaseke headquarters on Monday, the secretary for finance Steven Jojojo said that the allowances were unbearable because the district is now being hit hard after it lost four trading centers that that were key sources of local revenue, where the councilors are entitled to get their allowances from. The trading centers that include Ngoma, Kiwoko, Ssemuto and Nakaseke were elevated to town councils and are no longer remitting any money to the district.
He added that even the number of councilors increased from 19 to 29 yet the income of the district remained low.
Jojojo said the district has 63 million shillings as the 20% of local revenue that the councilors are entitled to share.
However the suspension of allowances didn’t go well with councilors, who described the little allowance given to them as peanuts. They threatened to shun council meetings over low pay.
Kikamulo sub county councilor, Ssajabi Kasolo says that the 100,000 shillings sitting allowance can’t foot the transport bills of councilors due to increment in fuel prices and this may lead to some of them shunning the council sessions and supervision of government projects.
He adds that councilors are expected to contribute to community events that include marriage ceremonies, funeral rites, and payment of fees to children among others and with the low payments, their work is likely to be hard.
Another councilor, Fred Rwabirindi of Kinyogogga Sub County says the suspension of the welfare fees that were meant to cater for refreshments and food will retard the deliberations in the council because of hunger.
But the Nakaseke district chairman, Ignatius Koomu advised councilors to endure the low payments and source for wider tax bases of the district to increase local revenue to cater for their desires in the next financial year.
The councilors later agreed to approve the 16-billion-shilling-budget for the financial year 2011/2012.
