Former Leader of Opposition Mathias Mpuuga has been given seven days to show cause why he should not be recalled by the National Unity Platform (NUP) as its commissioner in Parliament.
In a tough worded letter by Dr Lina Zedriga, the acting party president, the party claimed that Mpuuga had failed to show up for the party’s NEC meeting where he had been expected to explain why he has not resigned over the Shs 500 million he bagged from Parliament.
The party has said that it considers the money as an act of corruption.
“At its sitting held on 4. March, 2024 (to which you were invited but did not attend), the National Executive Committee considered the serious accusations against you and resolved to ask you to show cause in writing, why you should not be recalled from the Parliamentary Commission, to which the Party seconded you as member. You are requested to respond within Seven (7) days from the date of receipt of this notice to enable the National Executive Committee take an appropriate decision,” she wrote in a letter dated March 5.
Mpuuga is accused of sitting in a meeting with other parliamentary commissioners and allocating himself part of the Shs 1.7 billion as a service award for outgoing leaders.
Dr Zedriga said Mpuuga’s action goes against Section 9(1) of the Leadership Code Ad (2002) which bars leaders from taking part in deliberations where matters of personal interest are to be discussed.
“You are specifically accused of sitting together with the Speaker of Parliament Rt Hon. Anita Among and three other Parliamentary Commissioners and unlawfully allocating a total of 1.700,000,000 (Uganda Shillings One billion seven hundred million) to yourselves as ‘Service Awards’, the 6th day of May, 2022, while you served as Leader of the Opposition in Parliament,” she wrote.
However, it remains to be seen whether NUP will succeed in this latest endeavor. Laws and regulation that govern the administration of Parliament stipulate that a commissioner can only be dismissed by fellow MPs after a motion for his/her removal garners support of two thirds support.
