The President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, declared a war on corrupt officials in June 2024, during the State of National Address at Kololo Independence Grounds, arguing that he had been hearing it as a rumor but later got evidence of corrupt officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Parliament of Uganda.
President Museveni’s statement was later followed by several arrests of Members of Parliament (MPs), including the Lwengo District Woman MP, Cissy Namujju, who is still on remand.
As the president continues to show his renewed fight against corruption, the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among, visited Lwengo over the weekend and assured the people of Lwengo that President Museveni had heard their cries and would pardon their MP.
Additionally, the speaker vowed to defend the MPs who are currently battling corruption charges and assured the people of Lwengo that Namujju will forever be their MP.
“You are better off having a child who eats and brings home,” Among said.
The speaker’s utterances in Lwengo show that she supports the corrupt individuals, and she is ready to fight for them even after the president confirmed that he has overwhelming evidence.
The speaker vowing to fight for the arrested officials re-affirms the ongoing rumors that most of the corrupt officials at parliament work for the speaker and report to her after stealing.
Whereas President Museveni has shown commitment and called upon Ugandans to support him in fighting corruption, the speaker seems to speak a different language, and Ugandans are wondering what next since the vice has ravaged the country with every taxpayer’s money being swindled with no visible service delivery. Should then the people of Lwengo listen to and believe the words of the president or speaker?
It is a challenging situation for Ugandans whose taxes are being misused in broad daylight by parliament, an arm of government that is supposed to protect them.
Social media exhibitions have exposed the speaker and her cronies as being very corrupt with impunity and relentlessly looting with reckless abandon. Ugandans also wonder why the speaker and team haven’t been questioned, even when the evidence of their mismanagement is glaring.
The highest corruption levels in Uganda need a collective effort to be fought, and definitely President Museveni cannot succeed when the other arms of government publicly show that they support it.
Speaker Among’s actions and speeches visibly show that the president and parliament are on different pages in this fight, and this will definitely demoralize the Ugandans who had thought President Museveni had finally decided to wipe out the vice that has put the country’s image to shame.
In the end, Ugandans are waiting to see who is stronger and who is with them in this fight. Their cries have failed to be heard. The parliamentary commissioners, who distributed around Ugx 1.7 billion amongst themselves, are everywhere enjoying it untouched, and one wonders who will save the common Ugandan or whether the country has been left to go to the dogs.
Ugandans need a solution for corruption, but unfortunately, they have been betrayed by those who are supposed to help them. Is the speaker proving to be stronger than the president, or is she merely undermining the executive? Time will tell.
