Mohammad Ssegirinya, MP for Kawempe North, claims that his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), has abandoned him in the Netherlands, where he has been undergoing treatment for weeks.
Ssegirinya stated this during a WhatsApp video conversation with Kampala Central MP Mohammed Nsereko, during which he revealed that he is battling skin cancer and a lung ailment.
“I am suffering from skin cancer and have lung infections. If I did not come to the hospital in time, I would die in 6 months. Even my liver has swellings, which doctors say should be cut,” MP Ssegirinya intimated.
MP Ssegirinya claims that his party has neglected helping him and that the medical bill has accumulated to Shs80 million.
“I have not been helped by my party or parliament, and I wonder why other MPs have been receiving help and I have not been offered any. I feel abandoned,” he continued.
According to members of the public on social media, this is not the first time the NUP party and its MPs have remained silent about assisting their member, who is battling an illness and is financially shackled.
“This is not the first time that his party has abandoned him. When he was in prison in Kigo Prison, NUP never lifted a finger to help him. In the beginning, the party raised dust, but weeks later, they abandoned him together with his co-accused to find their own way out,” a citizen tweeted.
The Leader of Opposition (LOP) in parliament, Mathias Mpuuga, claimed on Monday, August 21, 2023, that he realised what was happening to Ssegirinya via social media.
“I learnt of his condition last week, on Tuesday, August 15, 2023, and the office reached out to him. It was established that he travelled without any notification to the LOP’s office and the NUP party headquarters. I accordingly communicated to the party, including the President, Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu,” the statement read.
However, citizens stated that their MP has been sick for a long time, and with NUP in the know, they should have prepared for this eventuality.
“Why haven’t they been preparing to help him out this whole time? He has been sick for a while now; they should have been prepared. Those hospitals abroad do not provide treatment to patients, including their own citizens, if they do not have medical insurance. Then what about a foreigner who has no cash to pay for his treatment? Won’t he end up mopping the hospital floor to clear his bill?” the citizen inquired.
According to NUP supporters, if the NUP does not step up, what happened to Anthony Wameli could happen to Ssegirinya.
The late Wameli, a NUP lawyer, was also abandoned by NUP until he died in February 2023 at Boston Medical Centre in Massachusetts, in the United States of America, after being diagnosed with stage four cancer.
