The month of May has been a tough one for Speaker of Parliament Anita Among as she battled pressure from powerful quarters including President Yoweri Museveni, the U.K. and the U.S. governments.
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Trouble for the four stems from a decision overseen by the Speaker to dole out Shs1.7 billion to them as"service awards" in March 2022. Former Leader of Opposition Mathias Mpuuga got Shs500 million, while Shs400 million each went to Solomon Silwany , Esther Afoyochan , and Prossy Mbabazi . While Among has denied owning property in the UK and has said the UK and U.S. sanctions against her are in retaliation for the parliament of Uganda passing an anti-LBTQ+ law in 2023, she is yet to show her cards on the move by MPs to censure members of her inner circle.
Sarah Opendi, Tororo Woman Representative, and one of the leaders of the censure motion, told The Independent about the procedure of the censure. She said after raising the required number, they will submit the list to the Clerk of Parliament and after that, the Speaker must present the motion on the floor of Parliament within fourteen days. If that happens, it will be a humiliating moment for Among.
FDC Chief Whip Yusuf Nsibambi led some of his party MPs in appending their signatures. Nakaseke South MP Luttamaguzi Semakula signed but expressed caution and skepticism about the process. The censure reached a crescendo when Persis Namuganza, the Minister of State for Housing, joined the fray. Namuganza was censured by parliament last year in a scheme engineered by Speaker Among after the two had a bitter fall out. She used the opportunity to lambast Among for corruption and misuse of taxpayers money. She also urged Ugandans to vote out MPs who do not sign the censure motion as a way of punishment for betraying the electorate.
Meanwhile Opendi and Ssekikubo have been making the rounds in the halls of Parliament gathering more signatures for the censure although some MPs were undecided on the matter. Others who have not signed the petition have advanced various reasons. Bugweri County MP Abdul Katuntu said as the Chair of the Rules and Privileges Committee of Parliament, he is an arbiter in the process. Katuntu said he cannot be party to the process that would accuse MPs who would potentially end up in his Committee.
MPs presented video footage streamed where Namuganza allegedly made offensive statements against Parliament and Among which the Committee was supposed to consider and act on. The botched censure of Namuganza was in the same spirit in which Among wanted Mityana Municipality MP, Francis Zaake removed from the Parliament Commission. Before the case was even concluded, Among had directed officers to withdraw Zaake's privileges such as his official vehicle and security detail.
Finally on March 10, 2022, the parliament resolved to remove Zaake from the Parliamentary Commission for alleged indiscipline based on a report by the Rules, Discipline, and Privileges Committee chaired by Abdu Katuntu.
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