Uganda, struggling to buy COVID-19 vaccines, splashes on new vehicles for lawmakers

FILE PHOTO: Ugandan academic Stella Nyanzi and activists protest against the way that government distributes the relief food and the lockdown situation to control the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Kampala, Uganda May 18, 2020. REUTERS/Abubaker Lubowa/File Photo

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda has spent over $30.2 million on buying new vehicles for lawmakers, a move that has been slammed by critics who depict it as profligacy in a country struggling to buy vaccines to stem a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parliament released the money to members to buy new vehicles this week and each lawmaker was given 200 million shillings ($56,500), parliament's spokesperson, Chris Obore told Reuters.