The leader of the launch of the collection of signatures to censure four commissioners accused of awarding themselves approximately 1.7 billion as service awards, Theodore Ssekikubo, has admitted that three weeks later, the team behind the exercise has failed to garner the 177 signatures required, with only 145 MPs having appended their names to the motion.
Ssekikubo made the revelation on Monday, June 10, 2024, while addressing journalists at Parliament, where he wondered why most MPs are still shying away from signing the motion, amidst the storm that has engulfed Parliament, following social media reports that some MPs and staff of Parliament had been summoned to police for questioning over suspicions of running a corruption racket at Parliament.
“You know, usually we have those summons, but the usual summons are for holding unlawful assemblies or disobeying lawful police orders; those are the cases we are usually summoned to. But when we are summoned in those circumstances of theft of public funds or embezzlement, then the country is on fire. It is very serious. And the only way we can save that is to come to this House and have this motion debated. So, for all members who wish for sanity to prevail in this country, let us debate,” Ssekikubo said.
Despite the disappointment, the Lwemiyaga County MP recognized Mubende district as the best performing district in the fight against corruption after all five MPs, including David Kabanda (Kasambya County), Bashir Lubega (Mubende Municipality), William Museveni (Buwekula South), Pascal Mbabazi (Buwekula County), and Grania Nakazibwe (Mubende DWR), all appended their signatures to the motion.
However, Ssekikubo was again disappointed that, from his own district, Sembabule, only Gorreth Namugga (Mawogola South) signed the censure motion, with the other MPs declining to back the fight against corruption in Parliament.
Never the less, Ssekikubo said that the collection of signatures still continues as the notice hasn’t yet been filed before the Clerk to Parliament’s office, which he said doesn’t bound his motion to the 14-day rule.
“We aren’t curtailed by the 14 days because we haven’t issued the notice. Bearing in mind the wind and the current storm in which the current parliament is involved and engulfed, it is only wise that you step forward. What we are doing is collecting signatures so that the debate can start. A lot has been said about the evidence; if you know you are right, let us have the debate,” he noted.
He also urged the four commissioners to append their signatures to the motion so as to prove their innocence.
“And I think I will call upon the commissioners themselves, who plead that they are innocent, to append the signatures so that they can be exonerated in full broad daylight, and I know this is the only opportunity they have. But where you have a storm engulfing parliament and MPs being summoned left and right to the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID), this is the first time in my tenure that I am seeing the kind of storm that is currently engulfing parliament,” Ssekikubo said.
The censure motion against the four parliamentary commissioners, including Esther Afoyochan, Prossy Akampurira, Solomon Silwany, and Mathias Mpuuga, has been ongoing for several weeks.
Launched by Ssekikubo, who has been collecting signatures from fellow legislators, the deadline for collecting signatures was initially set for Friday, June 7, 2024, but was later extended to Monday, June 10, 2024.
The motion had gained momentum as several MPs, including the State Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Persis Namuganza, and the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Joel Ssenyonyi, signed.
With the said efforts to collect more signatures and resolve the matter within Parliament rather than through court proceedings, the Lwemiyaga County MP’s team hopes to achieve their goal.
