Bugiri Municipality Member of Parliament Asuman Basalirwa has threatened to sue his Lwemiyaga County counterpart Theodore Ssekikubo and all other MPs involve with the Commissioners’ censure motion.
The censure motion seeks to recall the four parliamentary commissioners over the Shs1.7bn Service Award.
Basalirwa, says his suit will also involve all MPs who have appended their signatures to the motion seeking to remove the four commissioners of parliament from office.
He has vowed to block the motion saying the moment it is brought onto the Order Paper, he will rise up and stop any discussion on the matter describing it as subjudice.
“Am waiting for you in court where am representing Silwany and Mpuuga, they are the ones who gave me instructions”, said Basalirwa in a conversation with Ssekikubo and other colleagues at parliament on Wednesday.
If Basalirwa’s threats materialise, they will render the motion a still birth.
However, Ssekikubo says Basalirwa is an MP and should behave as such first on legislative matters and not as a lawyer, advising him to wait for the motion to be presented before the house.
Responding to these threats, renowned lawyer and political analyst Wandera Ogalo has warned against gagging MPs who want to speak out against corruption.
“It is strange that someone could attempt to stop an MP from speaking about a vice like corruption. “The word parliament comes from the French word “parley” which means talk/speak. The Ssekikubo’s are at an early stage of getting parliament to speak on an issue. Other MPs are saying they should not be speaking on that matter. This is strange” he said in a post on his X handle.
The censure motion targets four commissioners; Esther Afoyochan, Prossy Akampurira and Solomon Silwany, all from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) as well as the opposition National Unity Platforms’ (NUP) Mathias Mpuuga.