On an unusual Tuesday, Parliament reconvened from the Christmas break on January 9th, focusing primarily on addressing legal and procedural matters for the upcoming calendar year.
The notable highlight of the day unfolded when former Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Mathias Mpuuga, graciously relinquished the front seat to his successor, Joel Ssenyonyi.
At approximately 2:50 pm, Mpuuga, renowned for employing diverse figures of speech while discussing national issues during his tenure, received a standing ovation from all corners of the House following his concluding remarks as LOP.
Exiting the opposition front bench, Mpuuga, whose approach to national issues had kept Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja on edge for the past two and a half years, assumes the role of a backbench Commissioner of Parliament.
This transition, supported by the National Unity Platform (NUP) party, designates him to succeed Francis Zaake, the Member of Parliament for Mityana Municipality.
Zaake, a close associate of NUP president Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, lost the privileges of being a Commissioner of Parliament during the last year of his term due to parliamentary voting citing misconduct.
Additionally, his recent appointment as Deputy Opposition Chief Whip faced opposition from Speaker Anita Among, who argued that the Administration of Parliament Act does not encompass such a position.
We do not have that position (Deputy Chief Whip) in our Rules of Procedure. We do not have it, so please withdraw it. We have a whip, who is yourself, but we do not have a deputy in our Rules of Procedure. If someone has been given such a position, it is not valid, ruled Among.
Mathias Mpuuga’s Parting Shots
Delivering his speech, Mpuuga lashed out at those who think he was compromised to forge a good working relationship with Speaker Among and Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, saying Parliament was not their first point of contact. He informed the House that as an educationist, his first encounter with the Speaker was back in her days as a lecturer at the Makerere University Business School (MUBS) whereas he mentored Tayebwa into political activism. Both Among and Tayebwa were members of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party before they crossed to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, where they rapidly raced to the top of the legislature.
I would like at this moment to inform the House that I did not meet the Rt. Hon. Speaker in Parliament. We met way back when she was still teaching at MUBS, in fact at one time she was seconded by MUBS to teach in my college, so you can easily say I once signed her pay cheque. So, we are not meeting in the House as Speaker but probably for around 18 years as someone I have known. At one time she was blue (FDC) and she has no apologies for formerly being blue (FDC). Secondly, I neither met the Deputy Speaker here. He was my student of politics. He was a young man and I was a senior in the field, he and others used to get my tutorage when he was still a blue (FDC), we worked well. When he chose to cross the blue line and became yellow, that was his choice as an adult, explained Mpuuga.
He, however, asked the Speaker and Deputy Speaker who had been in the opposition crossed to the NRM, where they are now top leaders, not to look for political differences while serving the country.
Along the way, the sun shone upon her (Speaker), and she became yellowish. That is the beauty of freedom of choice. All of us, wherever we are and stand, must respect the choices people make, and when they make choices, those choices must be for the service of the common good. In no uncertain terms, I respect the Rt. Hon. Speaker, because she made her choice and then saw where she is, that was her choice, and I respect that choice. My only call to her is to use that choice to serve the common good, he added.
About Deputy Speaker Tayebwa, the former LOP stated that;
When he chose to cross the blue line and became yellow, that was his choice as an adult. So, we shared a lot then and the two have my immense respect as leaders of the House.
He emphasized that;
I am bringing this out to appeal to each one of us to understand that we occupy this public space for a purpose and that purpose must not be for the sake of it but to change the trajectory of this one country we call home. And when we are Members of Parliament, then that space is even more distinct because the call for duty is beyond the ordinary and we must be here and look at each other from both sides of the ail as servants of the people and at all time we must invite common good to prevail.
Mpuuga who late last year led the opposition into a walkout from the plenary sittings because of the government’s failure to provide answers to several human rights issues including the missing persons, argued the legislators both from the ruling side and the opposition to provide his successor a conducive environment to perform his duties.
I would like to appeal to the House to afford my successor the same support so that common good is served. The Hon Joel Ssenyonyi, young as he is but he is very reasonable and he deserves our support so that we continue the duty we have started both as NUP as a very young party but also the opposition in our quest to see a better tomorrow for our children and for posterity so that when history books are written, they will have space to say; ‘they met in the House, they were different, they opined differently but they converged to the centre to put forward common good’, stated Mpuuga.
He also asked the legislators on the ruling side not to give a deaf ear to the matters the opposition raises in the House because they are affecting all Ugandans irrespective of the political parties they subscribe to.
He also encouraged Ssenyonyi to be courageous and begin from where he stopped to pursue matters that are aimed at making Uganda a better country for everyone.
To my young brother Joel, I will look for my copy of a book titled; How to hug a porcupine. It is a very good read. Porcupines by their nature are difficult people but they are part of life, you cannot change a difficult person but set boundaries. Communicate effectively that you understood, don’t take it personal, take care of your good self, focus on the positive and be patient, seek support. It is all over this place, remember you are not alone. And where you get space celebrate your successes, he said.
Ssenyonyi, in his short maiden speech, pledged to consult with Mpuuga, whom he said led the opposition in Parliament under difficult circumstances. Ssenyonyi promised to stick to the targets set out for him in the Rules of Procedure, whereby as a LOP, his cardinal role is to keep the government in check.
By God’s grace, I will execute that mandate effectively. My hope is that I will get support from this House, not just my colleagues this side but across the whole House, to do this work because, you see, keeping the government in check is to the benefit of all of us here and the people that we represent When we are pushing back against things like corruption when we are ensuring there is service delivery when we are ensuring there is value for taxpayers money, it is not for the good of the opposition, it’s for all of us because, regardless of the political party you subscribe to, when you go to a health centre and there is no medicine, you will suffer,” remarked Ssenyonyi.
He said that much as the House is divided on the political lines between the ruling NRM and the opposition, there is a need to compare notes whenever legislators are pushing for the interests of all Ugandans.
I believe we shall be able to agree on a couple of things as far as keeping the government in check is concerned. I want to appeal that where we disagree and indeed we are going to have numerous opportunities to disagree, I hope that we can disagree respectively and that there gets to be space to disagree and for divergent views. But otherwise, I look forward to working with everybody to serve the people of Uganda, pleaded Ssenyonyi
Government Chief Whip, Denis Humson Obua saluted Mpuuga for ending his tour of duty in the demanding office of LOP, adding that his political experience and professional expertise have been beneficial to the institution of Parliament.
On behalf of the NRM government we wish to extend our appreciation to the Hon Mathias Mpuuga for exercising the roles and responsibilities of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament for the last two and a half years with precision and excellence. Your tour of duty came to an end but we want to thank you for all the clinical moments that we had in our networking, meetings, execution of the different roles and responsibilities much as we differ in terms of our political ideologies, said Obua.
Having worked with Mpuuga first as Deputy Speaker for a short while before taking over as Speaker, Among also lashed out at politicians who want to see a sharp division between her office and that of the LOP when they are serving the same institution. The LOP is a member of the Parliamentary Commission, which is the top administrative body of the legislature, and its Chairperson is the Speaker.
We want to thank you former LOP, my Commissioner now. You are now my Commissioner and my staff. Me and Deputy Speaker, we don’t regret being your friends and we will continue being your friends. I have told even my party, you don’t choose for me who my friends are, I will with my friends even if we differ politically but we will work together for the good of humanity. You did a good job as LOP and this country will forever be indebted to you, Among said.
On Wednesday, Mpuuga officially handed over the instruments of power as LOP to Ssenyonyi a first time MP representing Nakawa Division West. The opposition also made a reshuffle of the shadow cabinet, with the new office bearers also taking their offices on the same day as the LOP.
Other business
Fresh from hosting the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC 2024), Parliament not only received the new LOP but also dealt with other items, mostly dealing with complying with the country’s legal regime. In that fold, the House approved statutory instruments to extend the tenure of Local Councils and Women Councils for another 180 days.
Another legal issue dealt with was the approval of the designated members of the Standing Committees of Parliament, which expired in December last year after the first half of the 11th Parliament. Standing Committees of Parliament serve for a period of two and a half years.
In the same vein, Parliament approved the four backbench Commissioners, members of the Pan-African Parliament, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and other intercontinental Parliaments.
For the lucrative backbencher Commissioners’ jobs, the NRM retained Bukooli Central MP Solomon Silwanyi, Zombo District Woman MP Esther Afoyocan and Rubanda District Woman MP Prossy Akampurira.
