Joel Ssenyonyi the Leader of Opposition in the 11th Parliament has expressed his dissatisfaction on being excluded from attending Parliament Commission sitting, which has led to his missing out on allowances.
Ssenyonyi expressed his dissatisfaction on March 11, 2024, while addressing the shadow Ministers of Parliament concerning the ongoing #Uganda Parliament Exhibition running on Twitter.
“Imagine ever since I became leader of the Opposition, I have never been invited to the parliament commissions meetings, that means I have been missing out on allowances for those sittings, I don’t know why I have been excluded yet I am entitled to those allowances,” said Ssenyonyi.
He has gone ahead to petition the Speaker of Parliament to include him in the monthly parliament commission meetings as soon as possible so that he can also cash in on the allowances from the meetings. Ssenyonyi said he does not fully understand what is going on since the commissions sit every month.
“ I am mandated by the constitution of Uganda, to demand my allowances that I am entitled to as LOP, which is being affected by the failure of some people to invite me for those meetings,” said Ssenyonyi.
However, Chris Obore the parliament spokesperson and other sources have said that, commissions sit periodically not every month like Ssenyonyi has claimed and since he took over office, they have not held any parliament commission meetings.
“LOP’s demands are uncalled for, it is the Speaker to call for those parliament commissions sittings, I don’t understand his interests, he is playing politics and I can’t comment on that, since he knows and understands how these commissions work, they convene quarterly and in case of an emergency. They last sat in August,” Obore said.
According to sources, Ssenyonyi’s desire to attend sittings is pushed by the desire to earn some money quickly and also fighting hard to discredit and fit in the shoes of his predecessor Mpuuga that he has resorted to politics of defiance and attacking his colleagues publically and referring to them as corrupt.
