Summary:
- The motion was signed by 189 Members of Parliament and sought to censure former Leader of the Opposition Mathias Mpuuga and the commissioners who shared the Shs 1.7 billion service award.
KAMPALA: Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has dismissed a motion to censure former Leader of the Opposition Mathias Mpuuga and other backbench commissioners who were awarded Shs 1.7 billion as a service award.
In a letter dated August 16, addressed to the mover of the motion, MP Theodore Ssekikubo, Among stated that all aspects of the motion had already been addressed in a court ruling by Justice Douglas Karekona Singiza in the case of Bwette Daniel versus the Parliamentary Commission.
“All aspects of the motion have been well canvassed in the ruling, and continuing with the same would not only be an action of legal mootness but also violate the res judicata principle,” she wrote.
Speaker Among expressed that she was constrained from taking further action on the motion due to several court decisions that cited Parliament for debating and resolving matters that courts had already adjudicated.
Recently, Justice Douglas Karekona Singiza of the High Court ruled that the decision, dated May 6, 2022, to award Shs 500 million to the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Hon. Mathias Mpuuga, and Shs 400 million each to three other commissioners as a service award, was approved by Parliament.
The approval was part of the budget presented by the Executive as required by the Public Finance Management Act.
The judge further ruled that the service award was approved by Parliament in the Appropriation Bill under the title ‘Ex-gratia for Political Leaders.’
He observed that the questioned payment was scrutinized by the Minister of Finance and approved by Parliament, thereby validating the ex-gratia vote.
MP Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga County) had written to the Clerk to Parliament, Adolf Mwesigwa, last week, initiating the motion to censure Mpuuga and the three backbench commissioners.
The motion was signed by 189 Members of Parliament and sought to censure former Leader of the Opposition Mathias Mpuuga and the commissioners who shared the Shs 1.7 billion service award.
Parliament had awarded Shs 500 million to former Leader of the Opposition Mathias Mpuuga, and Shs 400 million each to commissioners Solomon Silwany (MP Bukooli County Central), Prossy Mbabazi (Woman MP Rubanda District), and Esther Afoyochan (Woman MP Zombo District) in the controversial service award.
In response, Mpuuga has asked politicians, including members of his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), who accused him of illegally benefitting from the service award, to apologize.
