Opposition MPs resolve to return to Parliament after a week long boycott

Opposition Members of Parliament have resolved to end their boycott and return to parliamentary plenary session after a week long absence.

Last week, the MPs on opposition announced unanimously that they were not going to attend any plenary sessions until their fellow parliamentarians, Allan Ssewanyana and Mohammad Ssegirinya had achieved their human right of a fair hearing.

The MPs also wanted government to pronounce itself on the missing opposition supporters who are still missing, and detained in prisons across the country months after the general elections.

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga announced on Tuesday that the boycott has now ended and the MPs will now return to plenary.

Mpuuga, in a detailed interview with NBS Television on Wednesday said that what they did was not simply a boycott, but rather an “actionable plan aimed to end violation of human rights in Uganda.”

Mpuuga said that they decided to return because most of what they were demanding for had been fulfilled by government.

“I am a veteran of this trade, able to judge the situation. What we had wanted initially was to send a strong message to the Executive,” Mpuuga said.

Adding, “When we met on Tuesday, returning to plenary was on our agenda, and we agreed to return and start pressing other key democratic concerns afresh.”

Mpuuga said that there is no drama about their decision to return to plenary and that their decisions were made deliberately.

“Our boycott was not supposed to cause a hailstorm but inform the powers that be that we are watching what they are doing, and we shall not let them get away with it,” Mpuuga added.

He said that if they had not boycotted parliamentary business, may be MP Ssegirinya and Ssewanyana would not have been presented before court the next day.

Mpuuga added that they will now go back to Parliament to start from where they stopped and continue to seek justice for their incarcerated fellows and supporters.

Ssegirinya and Ssewanyana are still in jail over charges of murder and terrorism, in connection with the recent spate of murders in the Greater Masaka region.