Govt's absence sparks outrage as Parliament honors late Ssegirinya

Uganda's Parliament held a special sitting on Friday to pay tribute to the late Muhammad Ssegirinya, the former legislator for Kawempe North. However, the front bench, occupied by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja and her fellow Cabinet members, was noticeably empty.

Ssegirinya died at Lubaga Hospital on Thursday, where he had been admitted recently following his three-year battle with an illness he allegedly contracted while in Kitalya Maximum Prison where he stayed on remand for 17 months from September 21, 2021.

At around 8:00am, the Speaker of Parliament Anitah Among arrived at the House to receive the casket of the deceased which arrived a few minutes afterwards.

The special sitting as communicated in the Order paper dated January 9, started at exactly 9:00am and the motion to pay tribute to Ssegirinya was supposed to be moved by the Ms Nabbanja who is also the Leader of Government business in Parliament and seconded by the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP), and a representative from the Independent MPs in Parliament.

But by this time neither Nabbanja nor any of the Cabinet members was available to move the motion which angered some legislators including Ms Among.

"Is this a message being sent by the government that they are disinterested in the death of Hon Ssegirinya? The absence of the entire Cabinet, is it a demonstration that they are disinterested in the death, burial, sickness and perhaps everything connected with Hon Ssegirinya?" Bugiri Municipality MP Asuman Basalirwa questioned.

He added, "Do we proceed normally without this House recognising the visible and loud absence of the central executive? And Right Honorable Speaker, you as the Head of the Institution, are you privy to any information as to why the Executive is not here and why our colleague should not have the presence of the Executive?"

Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi also expressed his disappointment, stating, "I also want to express my disappointment. The Deputy Prime Minister has just walked in, before that, there was no one on the Front Bench. Yesterday, I reached out to you intending to move this motion, given that Ssegirinya was one of us. The practice is, normally the Prime Minister moves the motion and the Leader of Opposition seconds the motion, something I was very comfortable with. In fact, I was glad that the motion would be moved by somebody from the government side, it was bothersome that this morning, there was no one to move this motion. That is very disappointing."

The absence of the government also irked Ms Among, who expressed disappointment, saying, "And when such a thing happens, we all ought to be here, to give a decent send-off to our colleague. There are no politics in these things. We should never have politics when we have lost our own, because it is me today, tomorrow it is somebody else. We are all imperfect mortal beings whose final destiny is death."

She added, "I therefore urge all of you to love each other, be there for each other, and appreciate one another, irrespective of the weaknesses, and shortcomings. Let us be there for each other, and that is what we will be remembered for."

The motion to pay tribute to Ssegirinya was later moved by Bugweri County MP Abdu Katuntu and seconded by Ssenyonyi.

Third Deputy Prime Minister Rukia Nakadama apologised for the government's absence, attributing it to miscommunication. 

However, Speaker Among rejected this explanation, saying, "I don't want to believe in miscommunication because I would take the responsibility. The Order Paper is very clear, and when I adjourned Parliament yesterday, I said we are adjourning to 9:00 am."

During the special sitting, various MPs paid tribute to Ssegirinya, describing him as a passionate legislator who served his country diligently.

Ssenyonyi said, "Death is a very painful aspect of life... losing a youthful legislator at 37 years, who had huge dreams and aspirations, is so tragic. As we mourn Hon Ssegirinya, let's commit to the respect of the rule of law. Hon Ssegirinya was denied bail when he urgently needed medical treatment."

Ms Among praised Ssegirinya's record of advocacy for better living conditions and humanity, saying, "His record of advocacy for better living conditions and humanity was very clear. He was very passionate about health services in Kawempe. I remember one time when he bought a CT Scan machine and bought ambulances, and that kind of thing."

Katuntu, while moving the motion, said that Ssegirinya lived an industrious life, and through hard work, dedication, and perseverance, rose from humble beginnings to become a Member of Parliament.

"Ssegirinya was deeply passionate about community mobilization, journalism, and food security, especially in his constituency, as exemplified through his passionate advocacy for various causes, including community mobilization for health services through the construction of Kawempe North Hospital, from which his constituents and other Ugandans accessed free health care services," he said.

Makindye West MP Allan Ssewanyana, who spent over 500 days in prison with the deceased, said, "The honourable was seen doing things crafted as comedy in nature, but was very serious. He was a very intelligent man, genuine man with genuine love, whose love was genuine, and was a supporter of change, not because he disliked those who lead this country in person, but their policies."

Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko praised Ssegirinya for embracing Islam and sticking to his family.

Tororo district Woman MP Sarah Opendi wondered why people are still tortured in prisons and other cells when there are laws preventing such.