The Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, has refuted claims made by Speaker Anita Among, who said that MPs who boycotted the regional parliamentary sittings in Gulu City are selfish and disrespectful to the people of Northern Uganda.
Ssenyonyi and some opposition members boycotted the sittings, citing wasteful expenditure even when the money is already budgeted for.
In response, Ssenyonyi said that if Among loved the people of Northern Uganda so much, she would not have stolen their iron sheets.
“Speaker Anita Among can’t say we don’t love northern Uganda, and yet she stole iron sheets from the people of northern Uganda; you all remember the Karamoja iron sheets saga?“ Ssenyonyi said.
He made these remarks while addressing the press at the party headquarters in Makerere Kavule on August 29, 2024.
Earlier in 2023, some MPs and top government ministers were implicated in the misappropriation of iron sheets meant for the people of Karamoja in Northern Uganda, and after investigations, some of the culprits were arrested and jailed, while others, including the Speaker, returned the iron sheets, claiming they had been given to them without asking.
Among other figures that allegedly misappropriated iron sheets are Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, Agnes Nandutu, Rose Lilly Akello, the Minister of State for Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, Amos Lugolobi, Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, and Maria Goretti Kitutu, among others.
