Why opposition MPs snubbed state of the Nation Address

The opposition legislators led by their leader in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga have snubbed the State of the Nation Address at Kololo ceremonial grounds.

The MPs were protesting the continuous #Covid-19 testing despite the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) declaration of an end of the pandemic as a public health emergency.

“Our Cabinet noted that more than Shs6 billion is going to be lost in #Covid-19 tests for both State of the Nation Address and Budget Speech yet WHO declared an end to #Covid-19 as a global health emergency,” Mpuuga said.

Mpuuga said the State of the Nation Address which marks the opening of the third session of the 11^th Parliament of Uganda, will attract more than 2,000 people including MPs and guest will cost over Shs3 billion and therefore, we resolved that they will miss the both the state of the nation address and the budget speech.

He urged that in the coming budget for financial 2023/24, the government will borrow more that Shs6 trillion, but at the same time, government is misusing funds yet there are other critical sectors which were given less money.

He said #Covid-19 testing exercises are given to various individuals connected to the first family and the state house.

“President Museveni and his family should receive #Covid-19 booster doses as per WHO recommendations, to enhance their immunity and alleviate concerns about the virus and increase social distancing measures during his interactions, aligning with WHO guidelines.” He said.

He proposed that Museveni should minimize physical meetings and resort to video conferencing platforms like Zoom just as he did during the #Covid-19 pandemic.