Evelyn Anite
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Uganda’s politics has become a “money-making business,” which needs drastic measures to fix, Evelyn Anite, the State Minister for Privatization and Investment.
She has henceforth called for a reduction in the salaries and benefits paid to Members of Parliament (MP’s).
Anite stated that the only way to change the public perception that people enter Parliament to enrich themselves is by slashing the legislator’s pay.
Drawing from her own experiences, the former woman MP admitted that she once didn’t fully understand the value of money. She recalled being shocked when she received her first parliamentary pay cheque straight out of university, which totaled 88 million shillings.
“I panicked. I thought, this is crazy. This was insane!” she said.
But beyond personal reflection, Anite has raised concern over the alarming levels of money used during election campaigns. She revealed how some current MPs even approached her as they tried to sell their properties — including well-built houses — just to raise funds to compete in the ongoing elections.
“One candidate told me they spent 600 million shillings on election day alone,” Anite recounted. “I asked, ‘Did you win?’ They said yes, but with a small margin. So what was that for?”
She furthermore condemned the culture of vote buying, warning that such desperate spending is turning politics into a war zone.
“People are willing to kill just to enter Parliament,” Anite said. “We must remove the honey that attracts everyone.”
According to the minister, Parliament has been reduced to a feeding ground for opportunists who chase after lucrative allowances and bonuses, rather than a platform for national service.
“If you are going there to serve, you won’t need to fight. But if you are going to make money, then the violence will continue,” she warned.
She pointed to public frustration over reports that MPs receive tens of millions in allowances, often without accountability.
“This is one of the reasons Ugandans are angry. MPs are paid a lot of taxpayer money, but there’s little to show for it,” she noted.
Her comments have since reignited discussions on political reform in social media. Many Ugandans are now calling for strict regulation of campaign financing and parliamentary benefits.
Anite, who lost her parliamentary seat in the previous election, says she now fully understands the harm caused by excessive political spending and unchecked greed.
“If we want to clean up politics, we must start by removing the financial motivation,” she concluded.
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