Former Leader of Opposition Mathias Mpuuga has responded strongly to his party’s attempts to pressure him into resigning, labeling their actions as driven by narrow interests and character assassination.
The statement, issued on Friday by Mpuuga who also serves as the Parliamentary Commissioner and Deputy Leader of the Buganda Kingdom, comes in the wake of calls from his party leadership for his resignation due to allegations of abuse of office and corruption. The accusations stem from Mpuuga’s acceptance of a service reward amounting to 500 million shillings from ‘taxpayer funds’, alongside two other parliamentary commissioners.
In the statement released by the National Unity Platform (NUP) on February 29, 2024, it was revealed that following a closed-door meeting between Mpuuga and the NUP leadership, including Principal Kyagulanyi Robert, it was agreed that Mpuuga would resign due to his acceptance of the funds, which he acknowledged and apologized for. The decision was said to be in alignment with the party’s principles of discipline, integrity, patriotism, reliability, and inclusiveness, as confirmed by Leader of Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi.
Ssenyonyi clarified while confirming the statement that their intention isn’t to exile Mpuuga by requesting his resignation. Rather, they aim to avoid following the example of President Museveni, who is perceived to turn a blind eye while his ministers engage in corruption and theft, as exemplified by the recent mabati scandal.
However, Mpuuga has vehemently denied all allegations leveled against him, including calls for his resignation. Mpuuga asserts that he will not resign due to narrow family interests.
He dismissed the unsigned document released by the NUP calling for his resignation as being based on falsehoods and misinterpretation of facts.
Mpuuga clarified that his role as a parliamentary commissioner does not involve personal input in deciding such disbursements. His duties primarily revolve around voting for funding to the office of the Leader of Opposition and political parties, as well as determining permissible payments such as salary, allowances, gratuity, and car grants.
Furthermore, Mpuuga emphasized that all decisions made by parliamentary commissioners undergo scrutiny by parliamentary committees before being approved.
He condemned the characterization of such payments as corruption, asserting that it is a deliberate misrepresentation of facts and double standards. Mpuuga also noted that if such payments were considered corrupt, numerous public servants, including MPs, who have received similar benefits could be implicated.
“Every decision of the commission to confer or reward anyone under its charge is subjected to the relevant committees of parliament for legality, feasibility, sustainability and relevance, to call such payments corruption is the highest level of spite, double standards and deliberate misrepresentations the public and membership of a party on a purely selfish mission” he writes
Mpuuga accused certain party leaders of orchestrating a malicious campaign against him, hiring bloggers to undermine his work during his tenure as Leader of Opposition.
“The campaign to character assassinate me is deliberate and am perfectly aware, It is well funded and orchestrated. During my occupation to the coveted office of LOP for 2 and a half years, it became the official style of different party leaders to undermine my work including hire different bloggers to undermine my work” he added
He acknowledged internal disputes within the party but asserted his determination not to resign based on narrow family interests. He vowed to continue raising pertinent questions regarding the party’s management and direction, emphasizing his commitment to transparency and accountability.
“I wish to assure the general NUP membership and all change seeking forces, this is my resolve and I cannot be deterred by small group family interests being peddled to blur the bigger picture of how the party is being managed without transparency. I will not stop raising important questions on the actions, motivation and direction of different actors in the party “he added
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