The Leader of Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi, has advocated for integrity reforms to clear Parliament of corrupt and unethical practices, an exercise he called “cleaning up of Parliament.’
According to him, as much as some analysts have attributed the ill decisions made by MPs to incompetence, official records indicated that though many are educated, the biggest issue is the lack of integrity.
He made the remarks on January 14, 2025, while addressing journalists at Parliament, in commemoration of the one year since taking over office on 9th January 2024.
Ssenyonyi took over office from Matthias Mpuuga, the Nyendo-Mukungwe member of parliament, who was later appointed as a member of the Parliamentary Commission.
Ssenyonyi said that though members of parliament are not incompetent or shallow, they lack integrity because they are educated and exposed.
“I have heard people say that the current Parliament has got incompetent MPs. I actually disagree. The major issue as far as I am concerned in this legislature of ours is lack of integrity,” he said.
He was appointed the Leader of Opposition in Parliament on 22 December 2023 and assumed office on January 9 2024 and boasts of a one-year term in office.
In his address, he revealed that his first year as Leader of Opposition has been tough, characterized by petty fights from the top leadership of Parliament denying him access to Parliamentary Commission meetings.
He criticized the Parliament for frustrating his oversight efforts and denying him the ability to recruit staff after the contracts of the old staff in his office.
Ssenyonyi also revealed that he had written to Speaker Among reminding her of her duties and protesting the continued denial of his access to meetings of the Parliamentary Commission.
“I have been in office for a year, and there have been numerous Parliamentary Commission meetings, but I haven’t attended even one,” Ssenyonyi stated.
