Ssenyonyi vows to clean up Parliament, cites integrity crisis among MPs

I have heard people say the current Parliament has incompetent MPs. I disagree. The major issue, as far as I am concerned, is the lack of integrity

The Leader of Opposition (LOP), Joel Ssenyonyi, has vowed to intensify efforts to rid Parliament of corruption and questionable practices, citing a pervasive lack of integrity as the root cause of many challenges facing the institution.

Addressing journalists at Parliament, Ssenyonyi outlined his plans to escalate the fight against corruption during his second year in office.

Ssenyonyi, who marked one year since assuming office from Mathias Mpuuga, dismissed claims of incompetence among legislators, arguing that the real issue lies in integrity deficits.

“This is our turf, this is our backyard, and in this new year, we are simply going to engage a higher gear in the fight against corruption,” he said.

“I have heard people say the current Parliament has incompetent MPs. I disagree. The major issue, as far as I am concerned, is the lack of integrity.”

Reflecting on his first year, Ssenyonyi described his tenure as "tough," marred by what he termed petty fights and systemic frustrations from the top leadership of Parliament.

He cited incidents such as the non-renewal of contracts for his office staff and being denied access to critical Parliamentary Commission meetings.

“It has been a tough year, and I thank God I am a tough man,” Ssenyonyi said.

He revealed that upon assuming office, staff contracts were abruptly terminated, leaving his office without personnel for an extended period.

Despite promises to assign staff from other departments, he noted the unique demands of his office were largely unmet.

Ssenyonyi also accused Parliament leadership of undermining his oversight role, recounting an incident where vehicles allocated for an oversight visit to inspect city roads were abruptly withdrawn.

“We had to hire taxis to do our work. The pettiness went even to that level,” he said.

Ssenyonyi highlighted his exclusion from Parliamentary Commission meetings, despite being a statutory member.

He revealed that his attempts to address the issue with Speaker Anita Among have yielded no results.

“I have been in office for a year, and there have been numerous Parliamentary Commission meetings, but I haven’t attended even one,” Ssenyonyi stated.

He accused the Commission of deliberately excluding him to shield questionable financial dealings.

Ssenyonyi cited an example of being invited to a Commission meeting to discuss the budget on December 3, 2024, through a backdated letter delivered only a day prior.

“This was done to ensure I would not attend because they knew I would question their financial dealings,” he alleged.

The LOP emphasised his commitment to pushing for reforms within Parliament, starting with addressing corruption and fostering accountability.

“We shall keep pushing for the cleaning up of Parliament,” he said.