Opposition, NRM square off over plenary boycott
Combo: Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga and Speaker Anita Among. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Both sides remain unmoved with Opposition insisting that it won’t bow to threats.
The impasse between the government and the Opposition in Parliament yesterday blew out after both sides squared off over the continued absence of the latter in the House.
Mr Mathias Mpuuga, the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP), yesterday maintained their boycott, insisting that they will only return when the Executive is ready to offer an explanation about the missing Ugandans.
However, the ruling NRM party members accused the Opposition of politics of activism and warned that time has run out to tolerate their strong headedness.
But Mr Mpuuga said no amount of threat and intimidation will force them to rescind their decision until the government offers plausible explanations about the 18 missing Ugandans and a raft of other demands they presented in Parliament.
“I am here to state as the head of Opposition in a very clear and unequivocal terms that our absence from Parliament’s plenary sitting is official. What makes matters official is when it is communicated, and when it is communicated, it is the job of the presiding officer to consider how to treat that communication,” he said.
“There is no amount of comparison or juxtaposition one can make of the allowance people make out of travels and per diem with the lives of people. I am afraid we are not going to do that digression because the matters for which we are making demands are extremely pertinent,” the LoP added.
During the plenary yesterday, Speaker Anita Among said she cannot be held personally liable for what is happening and implored the Opposition members to return to the House.
“The cause of action wasn’t by this House, the decision wasn’t by the Speaker, we inherited problems ..,” Ms Among said. “We are equally unavailable because at no time are we going to return to the House without these questions being responded to. So all we are waiting for is the date and time that these ministers will be ready to respond,” she said.
Mr Mpuuga wondered why the Speaker should hurry to force them back to the House when she has not compelled the ministers to present a statement on the missing persons.
“These gentlemen are alive and we need them back to respond and we are not going to be invited in for an exchange with the Speaker...,” he said.
Mr Mpuuga told journalists that next time they resurface on the Floor of the Parliament, it will be a different demand.
“Once the days we gave to the Executive expire, we shall one day return to demand the burial grounds or the bodies of these missing Ugandans.
At the moment, we are still demanding for an explanation which they must produce without any hesitation because they know where they are or where they buried them in case they are dead,” he said.
Mr John Baptist Nambeshe, the Opposition Chief Whip in Parliament, told Daily Monitor that the Speaker has turned Parliament into her private estate where she bellows orders as she wishes.
“She has overstepped her mandate. This only happens in Uganda- a banana republic, where a custodian of the rules (law) offends it. Leadership of accountability committees is determined by Opposition party with numerical strength. That the Speaker goes further to bar boycotting members from attending committees or even travelling is literally determining how they should conduct their boycott. Parliament is now like someone’s private estate, that one even has powers to deny members their legitimate entitlements [like] travel inland and abroad and participating in Parliamentary activities,” he said.
Mr Denis Obua, the Government Chief Whip, said the government will not be forced into an explanation when it has already presented detailed reports.
“We have done our part, we are respecting the decree given by the presiding officer then that we are respecting the 30 days, but to the best of my recollection, we have explained. We would like to join you to use all the mechanisms within the rules to compel our colleagues to come to the House. They went out of this House on their own, now they want to be aided by ourselves to bring them back that we explain, we are going to politely decline,” Mr Obua said.
