The Speaker of the 11th parliament of Uganda, Hon. Jacob Oulanyah was last week flown out of the country to Seattle - USA for further treatment by the Uganda Airlines 252 seater Airbus. The flight that had the speaker and a few family members allegedly cost $500,000 . Yes, you read that right.
Ugandans on learning about the news, it obviously didn't sit well with many people, especially the opposition side who have since been castigating the norm of government officials always getting flown out of the country for 'better treatment' yet they always advocate that the country is doing well healthwise.
A collection of Ugandans staying in Seattle went on to stage peaceful demonstrations and decried Oulanyah's being in their area yet back home many can't afford the basic medical services. These were holding placcards with statements like “Officials from Museveni government are not welcome in Seattle.” and were attributed to be belonging to the National Unity Platform (NUP), who have neither come out to deny the allegations.
The constant slandering and abuse of the speaker has triggered MPs of the Acholi sub-region, where the speaker hails from who came out and pledged to refund the 1.7bn that was used to fly the speaker out for treatment back to the national treasury.
In a press confrence held on Thursday, Acholi Parliamentary Group chairperson, Anthony Akol questioned the motive of the demonstration and wondered why it's on the speaker where they (opposition) are drawing the line yet many other officials have been and are still being flown out for treatment.
"In a situation where our speaker was taken for treatment and then NUP organizes people to demonstrate that he should not be treated, this is not the first Ugandan to be taken out of the country. Even as we talk now, there are Ugandans who have been approved by the medical council for treatment and this has been happening for many years. It is a humiliation to the speaker when many Ugandans have been taken for treatment. As a chairman of Acholi Parliamentary Group, I'm not happy and I'm demanding for apology from the Leader of Opposition. I'm not happy, I'm disappointed," said Akol
