Uganda: Bobi Wine Punches Holes in Mpuuga’s Defence

The President of the Nationwide Unity Platform (NUP), Robert Kyagulanyi, has insisted that Mathias Mpuuga admitted to wrongdoing and apologised for corruption and abuse of workplace throughout a gathering with leaders of the celebration.

The NUP supremo additionally challenged his deputy president for Buganda area to elucidate to Ugandans what he gave in trade for the Shs500m award, saying it was a matter of “negotiation” which usually entails ‘give and take’.

Former Chief of Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Mpuuga, is going through intense strain following social media expose of minutes of the assembly of the Parliamentary Fee he attended on Could 6, 2022.

The assembly, chaired by Speaker Anita Amongst, doled out practically Shs2bn of taxpayer’s cash as “service reward” to Mpuuga and his three commissioners.

On Friday, Mpuuga launched a terse two-page assertion through which he accused NUP of focusing on him for years and paying bloggers to tarnish his picture and stated the celebration had made a “cowardly name” for him to resign as a parliamentary Commissioner.

“To name any such funds corruption is the best stage of spite, double requirements and deliberate misrepresentation to the general public and membership of the celebration on a purely egocentric and malicious mission,” Mpuuga stated.

However Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, says Mpuuga had within the assembly regretted his actions and categorically said that in hindsight, he ought to by no means have concerned himself in such and that he had requested for time to seek the advice of with and put together his household and different stakeholders, to resign.

In a sequence of prolonged posts on X (previously Twitter), Bobi Wine gave 10 the reason why “this money-heist was unlawful, immoral and incorrect – and completely surprising from an individual we delegated to symbolize our values in Parliament, and lead the cost towards corruption and misuse of public assets”.

Nonetheless, Bobi Wine solely dwelt on the authorized and ethical grounding of the Shs500m award in a democratic dispensation. He did deal with the raft of accusations Mpuuga levelled towards the celebration’s management.

He requested what was particular in regards to the service of Mpuuga as LoP to warrant the so-called “service award” that was by no means given to his predecessors.

“It defeats fundamental logic for anybody to say they’re awarding themselves – furthermore with lots of of thousands and thousands of taxpayers’ cash,” he stated. “Does that imply that each public servant ought to now sit in his workplace and allocate some cash to themselves for feeling good about themselves and the work they do?”

Mpuuga and the commissioners Quoting the Management Code Act, Bobi Wine stated Mpuuga’s attendance of a gathering that awarded him the bounty amounted to a battle of curiosity.

Part 9(1) of the Management Code Act gives {that a} chief shall not take part within the deliberations of a public physique or board or council or fee or committee, of which they’re a member at any assembly at which any matter through which their private curiosity is to be mentioned.

“This regulation gives that the place this provision is violated, the chief should stop to be a member of that public physique or Fee and make good the loss prompted to the general public,” he stated.

In an interview with UBC, the director of communication at Parliament, Chris Obore, leaped to the defence of Mpuuga, saying the Nyendo-Mukungwe Division MP obtained justifiable and authorized allowance from the Fee.

Nonetheless, former LoP Morris Ogenga Latigo has stated the cash was unlawful and that the Fee has no proper to sit down and agree on such funds with out taking the matter to the ground.

“The fee does not have powers,” the previous Agago County legislator informed Nile Put up’s sister station NBS. “They need to have amended the regulation first. What they did was incorrect. In case you do it like that, it appears to be like like an abuse of the workplace.”

Bobi Wine expounded additional on the illegality of the Fee’s motion, saying the Supreme Courtroom in 2019 (Parliamentary Fee versus Wilson Mwesigye) held that the Parliamentary Fee doesn’t have the facility to impose any cost on the consolidated fund within the absence of a Invoice or movement generated by the Government arm of presidency.

“The Courtroom went so far as saying that it’s unlawful for MPs to extend their salaries and emoluments with out such a Invoice or movement,” he stated.

“On this specific case, Anita Amongst, sat along with Mpuuga and three NRM Commissioners, and awarded themselves Shs1.7 billion off the consolidated fund through which Uganda’s taxpayers hold their cash.”

He additionally stated there was no regulation that gives for the so-called “service award” to LoP and different Parliamentary Commissioners.

“The so-called “service award” was an excessive case of greed not rooted underneath any regulation,” he stated. “Beneath what vote was this cash spent? The regulation gives that the LoP is on the similar stage as a Cupboard Minister and no Cupboard Minister is entitled to a service award throughout or after their time period of workplace.”

In his assertion, Mpuuga, who can be the NUP deputy president for Buganda area, didn’t converse in regards to the element of the Wednesday assembly at which NUP alleges that he admitted to wrongdoing and apologised.

He centered on defending his entitlement to the cash and on alleged intrigue towards his individual from throughout the celebration.

Nonetheless, Mpuuga’s determined fightback fell wanting explaining how a celebration he claims has a “small-group-family pursuits” preventing him had gone had appointed him as LoP, maintains him as their deputy president in Buganda and even retained him as a Commissioner underneath the brand new LoP Joel Ssenyonyi.

Mpuuga enjoys the backing of Buganda Kingdom – the place he served for practically a decade as a youth consultant and a minister – in addition to the highly effective Catholic Church.

It makes the fallout with the celebration delicately poised however the place there’s irrefutable proof, he may first must persuade the 2 establishments that the Shs500 million was justified.

The cash was paid to Mpuuga only a 12 months right into a attainable five-year tenure as LoP, a time frame that even Parliament can’t clarify the way it warrants a service award and the particulars of the deeds that benefit such.

Bobi Wine stated the assembly that handed these “unlawful advantages” sat on Could 6, 2022, shortly after Francis Zaake was “illegally pushed out” of the Fee on March 10, 2022.

Zaake was not thought of for the award, a call Bobi Wine says Mpuuga had defined as “we have been ready for the result of the court docket case Zaake filed”.

“The award was imagined to be given no matter size of tenure,” charged Bobi Wine, who pressured that in 2017, Mpuuga had joined Ugandans in collectively and unequivocally condemning President Museveni’s Shs6bn ‘handshake’ to 42 authorities officers who participated in an arbitration in London.

The regime then described it as a service award to these officers, and claimed the rationale was as a result of they saved the federal government greater than Shs2.4 trillion.

A choose Committee of Parliament instituted to probe the ‘handshake’ had concluded that the officers ought to refund the cash as a result of it was irregular.

“Parliament directed the officers to refund the cash and known as on the IGG to analyze the heist,” Bobi Wine stated.

“So, why was it proper for us to assault regime officers for this irregular cost even once they tried to justify it, and never now when there isn’t a single justification in any respect?”

He stated because the celebration that nominated Mpuuga to the place of LeoP, NUP ought to have been consulted on the so-called “service award”.

However he himself had learnt in regards to the matter on social media.

“I could not imagine that my Deputy President would become involved in a matter of this gravity and never say something about it – not least, to me. When requested why he did not focus on this with the Social gathering (or no less than the president), he stated it was a matter of private finance! Actually?”

The NUP supremo maintained that the Shs500m award is an “excessive act of corruption” which Mpuuga admitted initially and apologised for.

He stated irrespective of what number of heavy phrases are used to justify it, the ethical factor for Mpuuga is to apologise to the nation and step down from the Parliamentary Fee.

“That is still his alternative,” he added.