Rebecca Kadaga on Monday lost to Jacob Oulanyah in the race for speaker of the 11th Parliament, ending her 10-year tenure in the much coveted seat.
The Speaker of Parliament is the third in hierarchy of authority in government, the first being the President and second the Chief Justice.
On one hand, Kadaga will feel aggrieved that she has lost power and control given the huge budget she has been controlling. For instance, in the Financial Year 2019/20 financial year, the Speaker’s office spent more than Shs3.7b. This same amount [Shs3.7b] was maintained in 2020/21 budget.
The money the office receives, according to Parliamentary Commission budget details, runs the office and facilitates Speaker’s travel in-land and abroad, among others.
The Speaker also runs a donation budget and has a Personal Private Secretary (PPs) at a level of a director, a Private Press Secretary and an Aide-de-camp (ADC). The Speaker is also given two secretaries, an official driver, and six security guards.
However, on the other hand, Kadaga gets consolation in terms of retirement benefits she will retain as former speaker. The Parliamentary Pensions (Amendment) (No.2) Act 2011 specifies benefits for a person who ceases to hold the office of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker.
For instance, the Speaker and Deputy are entitled to a monthly pension equal to 60 per cent of the salary of sitting Speaker, among other benefits.
Besides the monthly pension, a speaker gets a lumpsum payment on retirement (calculated as a sum equal to one year’s salary paid for each term served in office), a four-wheel chauffer driven car (3500-4000cc), two security guards, two domestic servants, free medical care for a retired Speaker and spouse(s) and monthly allowances for utilities of Shs660,000. The cars are replaceable once every five years.
