The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, has urged the European Union delegates to engage the government in a fight against corruption and human rights violations.
He made these remarks on January 25, 2024, at parliament in the opposition board room while meeting the head of the European Union delegation to Uganda, Ambassador Jan Sadek.
They discussed a wide range of issues, including human rights violations, corruption, and all forms of injustice.
Ssenyonyi stated that the European Union offers support to Uganda, and about 115 projects are running currently to the tune of over EUR896 million, yet most of this money is stolen, on top of the money generated here locally.
He continued to urge the delegates to be non-partisan and act as friends of Uganda to engage the government on some of these issues, like not favoring or belonging to a specific political party.
”In the fight against corruption and human rights violations, it is important that the government engage in some of these issues, like corruption and human rights violations. We have so many people who are in jail without their trials simply because they support the opposition,” Ssenyonyi said.
Ssenyonyi also added that the current regime is hell-bent on keeping power, so they are not bothered about service delivery.
“The very people who went to the bush to fight brutality, corruption, and vote rigging are the very ones doing the opposite, like being corrupt by stealing tax payers money,” he added.
The head of the European Union delegation to Uganda, Ambassador Sadek, however, promised to meet often and have constant dialogue with the government of Uganda to discuss various areas of concern the Leader of the Opposition in parliament raised.
”I congratulated the LoP for his new role in Parliament and also wished good luck to his predecessor, Mathias Mpuuga, who now takes on other tasks in Parliament. I want to emphasize that Uganda is an important country for the European Union,” AMB Sadek said.
Ambassador Sadek further noted that Uganda has made incredible advancements in trade with the European Union.
