The Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), who is also the MP for Nakawa West, Joel Ssenyonyi, has accused the State Minister for Microfinance, Haruna Kyeyune Kasolo, of paying himself over Ugx 2 billion from the Microfinance Fund.

Ssenyonyi, who posted on his X account on June 25, 2024, accused Kasolo of having awarded himself around Ugx 2 billion through his Foundation (Kasolo Foundation), to which he is a sole signatory.

“When I was still COSASE chairman, we embarked on an investigation into the Microfinance Support Center. We immediately discovered that Hon. Haruna Kasolo, Minister of State for Microfinance who supervises the entity, had given himself 2 billion UGX,” Ssenyonyi said.

Ssenyonyi further said that he reported the issue to the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, who told him to stop the investigations immediately because the issue was under investigation by the Public Accounts Committee.

“The Speaker of Parliament, Rt Hon. Anita Among, wrote to me, saying I should immediately stop the investigations because the Microfinance Support Center did not fall under COSASE (which was false because the law is clear). She then asked PAC-Central to carry out the probe at the time, and of course that did not happen, so the matter ended there,” Ssenyonyi added.

LOP also noted that if Ugandans are to deal with corruption, powerful people have got to stop protecting the thieves in this country, adding that otherwise, the slogan of “zero tolerance to corruption” will just remain a slogan!

Ssenyonyi’s remarks came after some Ugandans on social media put pressure on Members of Parliament about being corrupt. The campaign, spearheaded by social media activist Spire Ssentongo, is dubbed #TextAthief, where phone numbers and emails of different MPs implicated in corruption are being shared with the general public so that they can be called and texted about their alleged involvement in corruption scandals in Uganda.