The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, who is also a member of the National Unity Platform (NUP), has been asked by Ugandans, especially on social media, to apologize and resign from his LOP post after pocketing excess per diem.
Ssenyonyi, who requested five days of facilitation from parliament to pay a visit to his ailing colleague Muhammad Ssegirinya in Kenya, was only there for a few hours and pocketed the balance until he was exposed for being corrupt in the ongoing social media exhibition against corruption.
In response to the exposure, Ssenyonyi decided to take back the extra cash to parliament to exonerate himself, just about two months from the time he received it.
However, Ugandans are demanding more than that since he has been on a rampage, asking Mathias Mpuuga, who has been facing similar circumstances, to publicly apologize and resign from the parliamentary commissioner post.
Ugandans who are giving Ssenyonyi a taste of his medicine for corruption have argued that since NUP values dictate zero tolerance for corruption, as implied in the case of Mpuuga, who was publically humiliated and urgently asked to resign over accepting a service ward of UGX 500 million, which was deemed a bribe, the same values should be upheld against Ssenyonyi.
One Beinomugisha Ivan, who reacted to the issue via X, commented that Sennyonyi requested the five days’ money, but he was shocked when it was wired to his account. He states that, as a good and transparent leader, he’s supposed to lead by example and resign.
Another popular X user who goes by Lawyer noted that Ssenyonyi returning the money does not exonerate him from being corrupt. “Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi should come and clear this, as it is total corruption. If true, returning the money won’t be enough,” he commented.
Kaweesa Hope Mulangira called on Ssenyonyi to make the painful decision of resigning since he has clearly shown that he is corrupt. “If the current LOP, Joel Ssenyonyi, penned this letter and confirmed that he only requested facilitation for one day, the Ssenyonyi-signed letter clearly states he requested money for five days?? Returning the money is not enough, comrade! no choice but to painfully resign’” Kaweesa stated.
The call for Ssenyonyi’s resignation does not stop on social media, with most Ugandans who have been following the Mpuuga question castigating NUP for selective punishment. However, political enthusiasts highly doubt if any other action will be taken against Ssenyonyi since he’s the party president’s favorite boy.
