Parliament shall 'stand by' remanded MPs till proved guilty - Tayebwa

The deputy speaker of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa has revealed that the top leadership of parliament will provide all required support to the three legislators who were on June 12 charged and remanded to Luzira prison over their involvement in acts of corruption.

While officiating at the ceremony where the Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Youth Affairs (UPFYA) changed leadership at Parliament on June 13, Mr Tayebwa emphasized that parliament will follow up the cases against the three legislator, until they are convicted by the court.

"As a leadership of Parliament we shall stand by our colleagues until they are proved guilty. But that doesn't mean that we condone any behavior that is inappropriate," he said.

On June 12, three members of Parliament; Mr Paul Akamba of Busiki county, Ms Cissy Namujju, Lwengo District Woman MP,  and Mr Yusuf Mutembuli, who represents Bunyole East in Parlaiment were arraigned before the Anti-corruption court in Kampala and charged with budget-related corruption before being remanded to Luzira prison until June 14.

Mr Tayebwa further allayed fears of legislators on arrests saying the President is in good terms with the eleventh Parliament.

"We have been working with the executive in terms of budget transparency and streamlining. So we are working very closely with the President and we hope that we can continue cleaning up [parliament]," he said.

"Only that the message that have been put out looks like as if parliament is rotten, parliament is finished and most of you are hiding your heads in the sand, please come out and speak out for the good things you have done for this country. Personally, I am proud of you," he added.