Rt. Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, has taken a bold step in addressing allegations of corruption within the legislative body. In a press conference held at Parliament House earlier in the day, Hon. Ssenyonyi revealed that he has reached out to four government investigative bodies urging them to probe the alleged corruption cases.
Speaking to journalists, Mr. Ssenyonyi named the Inspectorate of Government, Financial Investigations Authority (FIA), Auditor General, and the Director of Public Prosecutions as the authorities he has contacted to address what he described as "mismanagement of funds."
"We have all these matters of allocation of contracts, sending money to parliamentary officials, and irregular recruitment of parliament staff, and we are saying they should be taken up by these authorities, and I hope they can start now," Mr. Ssenyonyi emphasized.
The move comes in the wake of mounting accusations of corruption circulating on social media platforms under the campaign banner #ParliamentExhibition, which has garnered attention for over two weeks.
Last week, Mr. Ssenyonyi penned a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, urging her to respond to the various corruption allegations circulating online.
However, during a parliamentary session, Speaker Annet Anita Among responded, expressing her reluctance to engage with what she referred to as "hear-say" from social media.
"We have taken note of the hearsay on social media, and I don't want to be pushed to respond to matters on social media, but we shall handle it, and probably the Inspectorate of Government will investigate," Speaker Among stated.
In addition to addressing broader corruption issues, Mr. Ssenyonyi disclosed a personal incident involving the erroneous transfer of funds to his account. He revealed that money intended for a one-night trip to visit the ailing Kawempe North MP, Hon. Muhammad Sssegirinya, was mistakenly credited to his account for five days.
"I requested to go and check on Hon Ssegirinya for one night, but a few days later, I saw money for five days reflecting in my account. When I asked, they told me they had made a mistake but would deduct it from my April salary. I didn't wait for that; I withdrew the money and took it to the accountability committee," Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi explained.
The call for investigations into corruption allegations within Parliament marks a significant step towards transparency and accountability in Uganda's legislative body, signaling a commitment to combatting corruption at all levels.
