NEWS

Parliament on Tuesday passed a resolution tasking government to waive water and electricity bills for a period of six months to help relieve the many Ugandans in the post-lockdown recovery process.

The waiver, if embraced by the government, would start from March when the lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19.

While debating a motion moved by Masaka Municipality MP Mathias Mpuuga, the legislators said since the lockdown was imposed in March, many Ugandans spend a lot of time at home and consume a lot of electricity and water more than they would use while at work.

The MPs argued that with hand-washing being one of the key measures of stopping the spread of Covid-19, there was a need to use more units of water.

Mr Mpuuga said because of loss of jobs and businesses, many Ugandans cannot afford the bills.

"The lockdown has had a high devastating impact on several sectors with offices and businesses closed. This state of affairs has rendered the citizenry generally unable to pay for the utilities," he said.

Mr Mpuuga argued that Uganda should borrow a leaf from other countries, including Ghana, which have already paid off the water and electricity bills for the citizens for a specific period of time.

Request for rural areas

Ms Jesca Ababiku (Adjumani Woman, NRM) said much as the people in rural areas are not connected to water provided by the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC), there is a need for government to also repair boreholes and other dilapidated water sources.

"The Ministry of Water wrote to all districts asking them to repair all boreholes during this Covid-19 period. But the CAOs (Chief Administrative Officers) have said there is no money," she said.

The MPs said with President Museveni not including waiver on water and electricity bills as part of a stimulus package during the State of the Nation Address on June 4, payment of the cumulative bills will suffocate many Ugandans.

"Much as government told landlords not to demand for rental fees, they are also facing pressure from Umeme and National Water to pay for these bills and yet tenants are using them. So, this should be waived," Mr Moses Walyomu (Kagoma County, NRM) said.

Mr John Baptist Nambeshe (Manjiya County, NRM) said: "There is mass unemployment and it is important that utility bills are waived. Uganda has Covid-19 but there is a blessing that waters in Lake Victoria have gone up hence uninterrupted production of electricity. Ugandans have to enjoy this endowment."

Demand from voters

Other MPs also reported that if government does not handle the waiver, they are likely to continue facing many demands from their voters as they go for elections whose revised roadmap the Electoral Commission released on Tuesday.

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga said the motion has come in support of the report of the ad-hoc committe on Covid-19, which in April pointed out key intervention measures that the government ignored in its stimulus package.

"The government of Ghana has already paid for water for six months. This Parliament was very proactive at the start of Covid-19 because we set up an ad-hoc committee, which came up with proposed solutions to these problems," the Speaker said.

She added: "But government has not included these issues in the budget. We want to remind government on the Sustainable Development Goal number six, which is about clean water."

Acting Prime Minister Moses Ali was in the House but did not seek for a chance to make a response before the motion was passed. Government, among other stimulus packages, proposed deferral of some taxes, including Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE).