BELEAGUERED Brig. Henry Tumukunde has finally bowed to pressure from the army and resigned from Parliament over controversial statements he made on radio without authorisation.
He becomes the second UPDF representative to resign from the current Parliament after Lt. Gen. Salim Saleh, who did so over corruption allegations.
The Parliament speaker received Tumukunde’s resignation letter on May 28 at 10:30pm. “I have been directed by the Forces Council (formerly Army Council) to resign my seat in Parliament as MP representing the UPDF and I have accordingly
obliged,†reads the letter, which is copied to President Yoweri Museveni, the Commander-in-Chief and the Forces Council.
Tumukunde, who is also facing charges of creating ghost soldiers, was one of the 10 UPDF representatives in Parliament.
Parliament Clerk Aeneas Tandekwire said yesterday he had notified the Electoral Commission of the vacant seat. “The Speaker sent the letter to me asking me to declare a vacancy in Parliament,†he said.
The Constitution requires the clerk to notify the commission in writing within 10 days after the vacancy has occurred. A by-election must be held within 60 days thereafter.
By resigning from Parliament, Tumukunde has lost the immunity, which covers members when they make controversial statements in the House.
The army leadership was also angry, that during debate on the scrapping of secret voting, Tumukunde campaigned against it, saying Uganda had not attained the maturity for open voting.
Tumukunde, 46, a former military intelligence and Internal Security Organisation chief, was arrested last week from his residence in Kololo, a posh Kampala suburb, for violating army laws prohibiting serving officers from giving media interviews.
At the time of arrest, there were reports that Tumukunde was forced to sign a statement ordering him to resign as MP.
Tumukunde forced to resign as MP
