Speaker Anita Among has ordered Parliament’s legal department to sue The Observer for critically reporting about the activities of the House.
Among, who has tried to keep a tight leash on the media during her tenure, is angry over today’s Observer’s lead story which alleged that some agencies bribed legislators in order to save them from being merged or abolished.
During a plenary sitting, Among revealed that some of the agencies cited in the media reports that are accused of bribed MPs included; Uganda National Roads Authority, National Information and Technology Authority, Uganda Coffee Development Authority and Cotton Development Authority.
She denied accusations brought against the MPs saying all the decisions taken in Parliament on RAPEX bills were done to serve the interest of Ugandans. Photo by
In The Observer story some MPs confessed having been bribed by some agencies to save them from being merged.
Even before The Observer’s story, it had been an open secret that some agencies had taken MPs on the so called “benchmarking” tours when it was first revealed in 2021 that government was planning to merge/abolish them.
During these trips, MPs would be given hefty allowances and many would come back singing praises about a given agency.
In September 2021, the late speaker Jacob Oulanyah warned agencies of government to stop funding activities of committees. Oulanyah said that this undermines the independence and authority of Parliament.
“It has come to my attention, that some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government are making arrangements with our committees and financing them to do certain work. If you want your mandate, authority and independence eroded, let somebody else…other than parliament finance your activities. He, who pays the piper, calls the tune,” he said then.
