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There is an ongoing crisis on the prices of basic commodities which have been skyrocketing for some months now.
These have led to a strain on the living conditions of the ordinary people who can barely afford them. The whole economy looks shambolic and it’s only a few privileged people living normally.
Government officials including the President have continued to blame the crisis on the Ukraine-Russian crisis. Besides, they also said that there is nothing they can do in regards to these prices.
While appearing on NBS TV’s Morning Breeze, Joel Ssenyonyi said that as Parliament, they have been trying to tackle this issue.
“Parliament unanimously castigated the State Minister for Trade. Her statement was lacking. Commodity prices began to shoot up in November last year. On the issue of gov’t saying there is nothing they can do, why are they in government then?”
The MP also talked about the COVID-19 stimulus that was last year released by the IMF. This was aimed at supporting several local business to recover from the effects of the pandemic.
The way they released this money is not transparent and Ssenyonyi adds that they have been tasking the government to release the lists showing how they distributed it.
However, the government is still playing hide and seek because they know it was given to those with close ties to it.
The MP also said that whereas giving a stimulus has its benefits, it also has demerits. In countries like Uganda, the money is given to a few well-connected businessmen.
“Over UGX2.6trilliom from IMF was released to certain businesses to shoulder them from the Covid shock. We’re telling the Government to release the list of those who received the money. You will be shocked who’s on that list.
There are advantages and disadvantages of a stimulus. Unfortunately, it’s done for the benefit of a few connected business people. The ordinary business people who should benefit don’t.”
The MP also expressed worry about Uganda’s ever increasing debt burden. He says that there is money government borrows and it stays unutilised for quite long yet it has an interest attached onto it.
Check Also;
- We Knew We Didn’t Have Numbers For Speakership Race; Joel Ssenyonyi
- Hon. Asuman Basalirwa; We Were Promised That Prices Would Stabilise In Short While
- Experts Call For Calm Amidst Rising Prices Of Commodities
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