Africa-Press – Uganda. The Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, has again raised concerns over alleged secret payments to Members of Parliament, saying previous denials by lawmakers have always turned out to be false.
In a post shared on social media on Wednesday, Ssenyonyi said past experiences show that whenever he exposes questionable payments in Parliament, those involved first deny before the truth eventually comes out.
“When we previously spoke out about the Shs40m that was secretly given to a number of MPs, many colleagues said we were lying and making Parliament look bad…but eventually Hon Twaha Kagabo begun pacing up and down the stairs of Parliament with the Shs40m in a bag!” he wrote.
He also referred to the first “service award”, saying the recipients at first denied receiving the money but later admitted to it.
“When we spoke about the first ‘service award’, the recipients first denied and even said I have personal issues with them…but later they ate humble pie and acknowledged having received the money!” he said.
Ssenyonyi further reminded the public of the controversial Shs100 million that was reportedly given to MPs after passing the Coffee Bill and to encourage support for the UPDF Amendment Bill.
“When we spoke about the 100m given to MPs to appreciate them for passing the coffee bill, and to incentivise them to pass the UPDF amendment bill, some colleagues said I was telling lies about Parliament, and even promised to drag me to court personally…but later, Gen. Museveni came out to acknowledge that he gave them the money!” Ssenyonyi added.
His latest remarks come a day after he accused four Parliamentary Commissioners of secretly awarding themselves another “service award” totalling Shs1.6 billion of taxpayers’ money.
While addressing journalists on Tuesday, Ssenyonyi alleged that the four commissioners—Mathias Mpuuga (formerly of NUP), Solomon Silwanyi, Prossy Akampurira, and Afoyochan Esther- each received Shs400 million.
He reminded the public that in 2022, the same commissioners were implicated in a similar “service award” amounting to Shs1.7 billion, where Mpuuga reportedly received Shs500 million and the other three commissioners Shs400 million each.
According to Ssenyonyi, none of the four has come out to either deny or confirm receipt of the latest Shs1.6 billion.
He claimed that the money was “apparently intended to see them through the campaigns,” and that “to avoid a paper trail, this money was received through the Parliamentary SACCO.”
Ssenyonyi further alleged that the commissioners’ allies have been spreading false claims suggesting that he also benefited from the alleged service award.
“These people through their agents have been recently, and specifically last week, been spreading propaganda that I also received a service award. Some of you probably saw those things. This is completely false and it is meant to be a cover up for this second service award that the commissioners gave themselves,” he said.
The Opposition leader maintained that, just like in previous cases, the current claims will likely be denied, but the truth will eventually emerge.
“So, even with this second ‘service award’ of 400m to each of the four commissioners, they will deny and say all sorts of things!!” Ssenyonyi wrote.
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