NUP MPs who picked Shs40m from returned it already- Ssenyonyi

The Member of Parliament for Nakawa West and Spokesperson of the opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) Joel Ssenyonyi has revealed that some members of parliament subscribing to the party picked the controversial Shs40m that reportedly came from the Speaker’s office.

MPs were each given Shs40m for unknown reasons, While the NRM legislators got theirs earlier, their counterparts in the NUP picked the money from the residence of Speaker Anita Among.

However, Parliament Communications Director Chris Obore denied the cash, saying such reports were aimed at tarnishing the image of the institution.

Obore challenged the MPs who claim to have received the money to declare the same to the IGG.

Speaking during a media interview on Saturday morning, Ssenyonyi stated that members of the NUP who picked the money have since returned it.

“The NUP MPs who picked the 40million shillings admitted that it was wrong and returned it but we need to learn from this and avoid more traps in future,” Ssenyonyi said.

Ssenyonyi did not mention which MPs returned the money but insisted that legislators must do more to press the government to provide social services to the people so that MPs do not have to carry on their roles.

“What is happening is the government is not doing what it should do, so the MPs find themselves under the pressure to provide services to the people. We are in fundraisers every other time, we are fundraising for hospitals etc, this is the work of government. So MPs find themselves in great need of finances,” he said.

Meanwhile, the NUP top leadership demanded that MPs who took the money should return it to the sender, assigning the role to the Opposition Chiefwhip John Baptist Nambeshe and the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga.

The two summoned a meeting regarding the refund of the money but only 17 MPs turned up.

The members insisted that they could not return the money to a source that has since denied it.

According to Daily Monitor, Nambeshe, who was in charge of receiving the money from party MPs, narrated how he had camped at his office since Tuesday waiting for the MPs but none showed up until he left for other businesses on Wednesday evening.

“Even those people from whom we were expecting the money have not yet shown up,” Mr Nambeshe said.