Speaker’s directive on boycott is diversionary, says LoP Mpuuga

The Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Mr. Mathias Mpuuga, has described the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among’s directive on the boycott as a diversion.

Yesterday, Among prohibited opposition MPs who are currently boycotting plenary sittings from attending committee meetings and engaging in other parliamentary activities.

The MPs began their protest last month, demanding the government’s position on the alleged acts of human rights violations in the country, particularly against opposition leaders and their supporters.

Addressing the media at Parliament, Mpuuga stated that the Speaker should remain impartial and concentrate on the timeframe she gave the government to address the opposition’s demands.

“All those threats are a diversion. Fortunately for us, we are very clearheaded in what we are doing and we are not going to be invited in an exchange with the Speaker. Our demand of the Speaker is to follow up her instructions. Our expectation of the Speaker is to demand the executive to come and answer because our demands remain the same,” Mpuuga said on Thursday. 

He has also urged opposition MPs not to be intimidated by the Speaker’s decision to remove them from the list of legislators representing Uganda in the East African Inter-Parliamentary Games, which will be held in Kigali, Rwanda, next month.

Written by Prossy Kisakye