By Joyce Namutebi and Henry Sekanjako     
   
Four Members of Parliament have urged President Yoweri Museveni to explain press reports that top officials from an oil company mooted an idea of making an "undocumented" US$50m to him before switching to consider financing the re-election campaign.

MPs Wilfred Niwagaba, Thedore Ssekikubo, Joseph Ssewungu and Muwanga Kivumbi addressed a press conference at Parliament.

"We demand an explanation from President Museveni because he is being cited. We cannot be a point of ridicule in a foreign country," Ssekikubo said.

He said that their main concern was that matters came up in a London News Paper last week and nobody in government bothered to clarify.

However, Uganda Media Centre boss Fred Opolot s was quoted as saying on Monday that revelations in a London courtroom that one of Tullow's top executives mooted an idea to make "undocumented" US$50m payment to Museveni were false.

Ssekikubo said, "We demand an equivocal response from Museveni. Was there such an email? Was this money for interests of Ugandans? How safe is Uganda's oil sector in view that such allegations are coming up?"

He said: "The President is put on notice, he should be aware of the consequences of his silence."

Niwagaba said the MPs had been vindicated.

"All along we said that licensing powers be vested in the Authority. These are the things we were trying to prevent-names of President Museveni appearing in a commercial court in a foreign country on allegations of corruption and bribery."