Kampala, (UG):- The Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) Thursday said its Deputy President and Member of Parliament for Masaka Nyendo-Mukungwe, Mathias Mpuuga agreed to step down from his role as parliamentary commissioner after pleading guilty to the allegations of corruption and abuse of office.
In a one-page statement posted on the party’s official website and X account (formally Twitter), NUP said the former Leader of Opposition Wednesday met with the top leadership including President Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine and all deputy presidents to address the matter in which the former DP cadre admitted receiving the classified Shs500 million as ‘service award’.
“At the meeting, Rt Hon. Mpuuga admitted that he had indeed took part in this wrong doing and apologised for the same. In light of this, he was strongly advised that the moral thing to do in the circumstances is to step down from his role as Parliamentary Commissioner with immediate effect,” the statement which the NUP and its President Bobi Wine posted on Thursday evening read in part.
The party emphasized that Mr Mpuuga’s actions are entirely against the NUP core values which include discipline, reliability, inclusiveness, integrity, patriotism and service.
“We, therefore, ask our leaders at all levels to do self-reflection and recommit themselves to these values and the Oath they took to shun and fight corruption in all its forms,” the NUP Thursday circular added.
The development comes after the champions of an ongoing online campaign to expose corruption in Parliament accused Mr Mpuuga and three other parliamentary commissioners of irregularly awarding themselves millions of taxpayers’ money under the pretext of ‘service awards.’
Accusations against Mr Mpuuga are part of the revelation by the public under the ongoing social media exhibition on the activities of the Parliament through the hashtag #UgandaParliamentExhibition.
The social media exhibition championed by Jimmy Spire Sentongo, a renowned social media activist particularly aims at exposing acts of corruption, abuse of office and mismanagement of public funds, among others.
It should be noted that NUP President, Mr Robert Kyagulanyi on December 22, 2023, sacked Mpuuga, replacing him with Ssenyonyi following public outcries that the then leader of the opposition was meddling in political affairs with the ruling NRM party.
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