MPs Oppose Move To Censure Ssendaula

OVER 60 MPs have opposed the planned move to censure the Minister of Finance, Gerald Ssendaula, over his role in the planned sale of Uganda Commercial Bank Limited, Dr. Sam Lyomoki, a workers representative, said, writes Joyce Namutebi. Lyomoki said the MPs would not back the move. The MP yesterday issued a two-page statement in which he listed five reasons given by the over 60 MPs who met at Hotel Africana on Saturday October. The meeting was attended by members of the civil society. “After wide consultation many of us strongly oppose the motion for five reasons,” the statement said. “From past experience motions of censure have relied on some hidden ‘power struggles’ against those censured. Where there are no such ‘behind-the-scene-currents, culprits have escaped unpunished,” the statement said. The MPs said there should be universal principles respected by all to guide the operation of state machinery. “If moves are guided by subjectivity then some of us cannot be party to such machinations,” the statement added. The legislators said there were many individuals in sensitive positions with records of corruption and other evils who were approved by Parliament. “From past experience, censuring has not yielded the required results of disciplining public officers,” the statement added. Individuals censured in the Sixth Parliament were approved for ministerial posts by the Seventh Parliament. This has greatly undermined the moral authority of Parliament. Ends