The Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Joel Ssenyonyi, has asked the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Annet Among, to convene a special parliamentary sitting to discuss issues that have been raised in the ongoing online parliamentary exhibition campaign.

Ssenyonyi made these remarks on March 11, 2024, while addressing a press briefing on the unexplained expenditures in Parliament,where he stated that it is important for leaders to be held accountable for various allegations labelled against Parliament, especially against the Speaker.

According to Ssenyonyi, a number of legitimate questions have been raised, including the allowances of the Speaker to travel abroad and her recruitment of staff.

“This is a letter written to the Speaker asking her to convene a commission meeting because there has been no commission meeting at least since I got into office. So it’s important that the commission sits, and we get answers to all of these various expenditures,” Senyonyi stated.

Ssenyonyi stated that Parliament must be accountable to the people for the plenty of money that is not explained legally or even morally. He emphasised the urgency of the commission meeting.

He further emphasised that the commission, through the Speaker, convenes a meeting within this week so that the shadow cabinet can discuss the matters and be accountable to people.

Ssenyonyi said that there are allegations that billions of money have been put on different bank accounts of staff members, reportedly for the Speaker’s field activities.

He noted that there has been a concern about the recruitment of staff to the Parliament of Uganda, as clearly displayed in the Auditor General’s report, which shows staff that cannot be identified.