The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, has announced that the opposition will boycott the State of the Nation Address (SONA) slated for Thursday, June 6th, and the budget reading for June 13th.

Ssenyonyi made the remarks while addressing journalists at Parliament on June 4, 2024, where he said the president keeps on repeating statements he made in the 1990s and 2000s, saying such speeches are a mockery to Ugandans, so the opposition will not accompany the president in this year’s ritual.

“The Shadow Cabinet has held a meeting, and we have agreed not to attend the State of the Nation Address and Budget Speech. The State of the Nation Address has consistently become ritualistic. Mr. Museveni comes to speak to the nation, and he is regurgitating the things from 1990, the early 2000s, and so on,” Ssenyonyi said.

He further revealed that he had actually prepared his response to the State of the Nation Address because, according to their rules, the Leader of Opposition is required to provide a response, which he prepared.

He stated that Ugandans at the moment are more interested in hearing how the President is tackling corruption as opposed to defending it and how Museveni is working to cut down on his expenditure at State House after it was recently revealed that State House spends Shs2 billion per day and see how to make sure there is money for service delivery in Uganda.

Ssenyonyi also revealed that he wrote a letter to the Speaker of Parliament not to personify the offices of the Parliamentary Commission and Business Committee, accusing her of ordering the hosting of regional plenary sittings without taking into consideration the financial implications this would pose to Ugandan taxpayers.

He accused the Speaker of making such a pronouncement without seeking the input of the Business Committee and Parliamentary Commissions, which are the two bodies mandated to discuss such matters.

Ssenyonyi further asked MPs and Ministers, claiming that the Shs1.7 billion service award given to the four commissioners was discussed in Parliament, to bring forward evidence, saying that the money was never approved in Parliament and that if the funds were lumped up with other expenditures in Parliament’s budget, this would make the service award more illegal.