The petition to remove four parliamentary commissioners has continued to gain momentum, with many members of parliament signing.
The commissioners include the former Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), MP Mathias Mpuuga, Solomon Silwanyi, Esther Afoyochan, and Prossy Akampurira. They are accused of awarding themselves around UGX 1.7 billion as service awards without the approval of parliament.
On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga County), the lead petitioner, while updating the press at Parliament, said he was impressed with the fast turn-up of members to support the petition, which he intends to table in parliament once the house is recalled from recess.
MP Gilbert Olanya of Kilak South, Amuru district, shortly after signing the petition at Parliament, said that many of his colleagues from the Acholi sub-region are running from the village to come and sign and later move back to their villages.
“This is the way to go; we shouldn’t be condoning corruption in our country; you can’t allocate funds to yourselves; this is impunity, so we should stop encouraging impunity in this country. Government resources must be used by taxpayers; you can’t allocate government funds just to benefit yourself,” MP Olanya said.
MP Agnes Taaka, the Bugiri District Woman Representative, said, “I have signed the petition so that we can have an opportunity for the commissioners to explain to us how they come up with the benefits and also to hold them accountable to us because the commissioners have turned out to be commissioners for themselves and they don’t care about the members.”
MP Taaka added that some of the commissioners get money from their benefits and go to their constituencies to fight against them and compete with them, yet they are earning almost double the money that others earn.
MP Yusuf Nsibambi of Mawokota South, who also doubles as FDC Party Whip, led his party in appending signatures to the ongoing censure motion intended to recall the four commissioners from their offices.
He says the petition is intended to give the accused an opportunity to account to Uganda for how they have been conducting business in Parliament.
On Tuesday, May 28, 2024, two ministers, including Dr. Chris Baryomunsi and Persis Namuganza, backed the motion, saying it would promote accountability in the House.
While addressing the press at the Uganda Media Centre on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, Minister Baryomunsi described the decision as relevant to the promotion of accountability, saying the Institution of Parliament should be accountable.
A commissioner can be removed for reasons such as incompetence, inability to perform their duties due to physical or mental infirmity, misbehavior, misconduct, or insanity. These grounds are specified in Section 5 of the Administration of Parliament Act and Rule 110.
