Uganda’s Security Minister, Gen. Elly Tumwine (pictured) must be a happy man as MPs fear to sign petition to censure him over contempt of parliament.
On February 5, Parliament adopted a motion seeking to censure Gen Tumwine for blocking the work of Parliament when MPs were probing illegal detention centres in the country.
But five days to the closure of the petition, only 20 MPs out of 150 have so far signed the petition, some of the MPs who have appended their signatures have faulted MPs for shying away from censuring Tumwine.
Addressing a press conference on Friday at Parliament, Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo said a few National Resistance Movement members have signed, but members of the Human Rights Committee members and many opposition MPs do not want to sign the motion.
Theodore Ssekikubo (Lwemiyaga County) said it is very pitiful that fellow MPs are giving excuses and putting their hands behind rather than supporting the resolution of parliament by signing the petition.
“They [MPs] passed the resolution, but they are not turning up to sign the petition,” he said.
Rubaga North MP Moses Kasibante said even most members of the Committee on Human Rights that pinned Gen Tumwine including Egunyu Nantume, the chairperson of the committee have not signed the petition.
“It is hardly 5 members of the committee that have signed this petition yet it is their report that prompted the censure motion,” he said, adding: “What is happening to the rest of the committee members and other MPs; they should explain to Ugandans why they have not signed the petition yet they adopted the motion on the floor of Parliament.”
Whereas the Constitution in article 118 gives Parliament powers to censure a minister, Rule 98(5) of the Rules of Procedure require at least one third of the Members to append their signatures on the list signifying support for the proposed petition.
