Main opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) says that they knew that Speaker Anita Among would not have honored the party’s decision to remove Mathias Mpuuga from his role as Commissioner of Parliament.
After it emerged that Mpuuga had participated in a controversial deal in which commissioners of parliament awarded themselves billions in service awards, with the Nyendo-Mukungwe MP getting Shs500m for serving as Leader of Opposition in Parliament, the NUP resolved to recall him as their commissioner in Parliament.
NUP, whose head is Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, appointed Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake their Commissioner. But Zaake has previously had challenges as Commissioner to the extent that he was removed from his job. (See Details Here).
Back to Mpuuga’s issues, NUP had appointed him as Commissioner of Parliament, shortly after firing him as Leader of Opposition in Parliament, replacing him with Nakawa West MP Joel Ssenyonyi. (Read Details Here, There and Over There).
But as the Shs500m cash award allegations came to light through the Uganda Parliament Exhibition, NUP asked Mpuuga to step aside. But he refused to resign his job. (See Reports Here and There).
NUP then wrote to Speaker Anita Among informing them of their decision to remove Mpuuga. In response, Among lectured NUP on the law for removal of a commissioner of Parliament.
Speaker Anita Among explained that the Administration of Parliament Act, Section (2), Cap 257, and Rule 11 (4) of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament which guide on the position of commissioners of parliament, including their appointment to the office and their firing.
“The role of parties under the law is limited to nominating candidates for election to the office of Commissioner of Parliament. Once elected by Parliament, the Commissioners so elected cease to serve individual party interests and serve Parliament as a whole. Parties lack the requisite mandate to recall a Commissioner of Parliament once elected by Parliament. To do as you requested [remove Mpuuga] would amount to fettering the authority vested in the House,” Speaker Among responded to Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya in a letter to NUP’s request to fire their commissioner.
Reacting to Speaker Anita Among’s response, Rubongoya said they did not expect much action against Mpuuga from the speaker.
“For clarity, when we communicated to Parliament our decision to withdraw the mandate we had given Hon. Mathias Mpuuga to represent us as a Commissioner, we were aware that Ms. Anita Among would seek to protect him like she has previously done. Just this past weekend, Dictator Museveni praised her for having brought (read bought) many opposition leaders to him,” wrote the NUP SG.
“Her ways are therefore well known. In any case, Ms. Among chaired the Parliamentary Commission meeting that illegally and immorally allocated the 500 million shillings to Hon. Mpuuga.”
So, what did the NUP what to achieve? Did they only want to expose (kulabisa) an already exposed Parliament and its Speaker? According to Rubongoya, the opposition party sought to achieve at least three objectives.
The first objective, according to Rubongoya, was “to be on record and officially communicate to Parliament our disapproval of corruption and abuse of office.”
NUP also sought to “reaffirm that given the facts available now, Hon. Francis Zaake remains our legitimate representative on the Parliamentary Commission as he was unconstitutionally removed from that role; and to ensure that when the Parliamentary Commission engages in more forms of corruption as it surely will, no wrongdoing shall be imputed on the National Unity Platform,” according to Rubongoya.
Meanwhile, Mpuuga has said he will not leave Bobi Wine’s NUP, making it clear he is not going anywhere. (See Details Here and There).
It is not only Mpuuga that is the centre of controversy in NUP. LoP Joel Ssenyonyi is also battling calls for resignation over allegations that he requested for money to visit ailing MP Muhammad Ssegirinya in Nairobi for five days, only to return to Kampala after one day. (See Details Here, There and Over There).
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