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Parliamentary Commission sued over ‘service award’
The commissioners accused of sharing Shs1.7b (L-R): Mathias Mpuuga (Nyendo – Mukungwe MP), Prossy Mbabazi Akampurira (Rubanda Woman MP), Esther Afoyochan (Zombo Woman MP) and Solomon Silwanyi (Bukooli Central MP). PHOTOS/ FILE/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Last Friday, the case came before Justice Douglas Singiza, who set timelines for the Parliamentary Commission and the petitioner to file their written submissions.
- The lawsuit’s filing coincides with Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo’s campaign to censure Mr Mpuuga and his colleagues.
- Mr Ssekikubo is expected to present a list of MPs who have signed to support the censure motion.
The Parliamentary Commission has been sued over the controversial “service award” given to former Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga and three other back-bench commissioners.
A concerned citizen, Mr Daniel Bwette, filed the lawsuit before the High Court in Kampala on May 23, arguing that the Parliamentary Commission’s decision to disburse a total of Shs1.7 billion to the four individuals is illegal, oppressive, biased, irrational, and unfair.
“A declaration that the respondent’s (Parliamentary Commission) decision to award the Leader of Opposition, Mr Mathias Mpuuga Shs500 million and other three Parliamentary Commissioners Shs400 million [each] disguised as a service award on May 6, 2022, is ultra vires and is null and void,” reads part of the lawsuit.
Court documents reveal that on May 6, 2022, the four commissioners, including Ms Prossy Akampurira (Rubanda District Woman MP), Mr Solomon Silwany (Bukooli County MP), and Ms Esther Afoyochan (Woman District MP for Zombo), sat with the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Anita Among, and were awarded Shs400 million each, with Mr Mpuuga receiving Shs500m.
According to Mr Bwette, the service award given to the lawmakers is not part of Parliament’s payment structures.
Legitimacy
“The said payment, termed as a service award, is a term which is alien in parliamentary payments and does not form part of the legitimate benefits which accrue to serving members of Parliament,’’ he stated in his lawsuit.
He added: “Neither the Parliament nor any of its committees were involved; thus, the process leading to the impugned decision was tainted with illegalities, procedural impropriety, and irrationality, making the decision inoperative, null, and void. The respondents’ action of purportedly awarding themselves the service award was illegal.’’
Mr Bwette also contends that the Parliamentary Commission lacked any reasonable or lawful justification for making the impugned decision, which directly contravenes the Constitution.
Through his lawyers from Nabwire & Co. Advocates, he seeks the High Court to declare that the decision by the Parliamentary Commission in creating and awarding the commissioners was a direct abuse or misuse of administrative powers and contravenes the prohibition against making a decision when a leader has a financial interest in the matter.
Last Friday, the case came before Justice Douglas Singiza, who set timelines for the Parliamentary Commission and the petitioner to file their written submissions.
Both parties are required to file their submissions today and tomorrow, with a court appearance scheduled for Thursday this week for further directions.
Censure motion
The lawsuit’s filing coincides with Lwemiyaga County MP Theodore Ssekikubo’s campaign to censure Mr Mpuuga and his colleagues. Mr Ssekikubo is expected to present a list of MPs who have signed to support the censure motion.
The National Unity Platform (NUP), the political party Mr Mpuuga belongs to, attempted to recall him as a commissioner but lacked the mandate to do so. Mr Mpuuga and his fellow commissioners can only be removed through a successful censure motion, which MP Ssekikubo is attempting despite resistance from the NRM Chief Whip in Parliament, Mr Hamson Obua, who recently directed NRM MPs not to sign the censure motion.
Additionally, city lawyer Hassan Male Mabirizi has withdrawn his private criminal prosecution against the four commissioners and the Speaker before the Anti-Corruption Court, aiming to clear the way for the parliamentary censure motion to proceed.
