Eventually Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi, the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP) has broken his silence amid intensifying calls for his resignation over allegations of a Shs1.7bn bribery.
The youthful first-time MP for Nakawa West is steadfastly denying the claims and challenging his accusers to provide concrete evidence instead of shifting goal posts.
Among the most prominent of Ssenyonyi’s accusers is Dean Lubowa Saava, a former colleague at NTV Uganda, who has used his online platforms to assert that Ssenyonyi, while serving as the chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase), accepted Shs1bn as a bribe to overlook alleged irregularities at the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA).
Determined to protect his reputation, Ssenyonyi has engaged lawyers from Pace Advocates to threaten legal action against Saava and another individual, Geoffrey Lukwago, for what he describes as false and malicious allegations.
Despite Ssenyonyi’s demand for Saava to retract his statements and apologize within 48 hours, Saava has refused, claiming to possess sufficient information about Ssenyonyi. Meanwhile, the social media campaign #SsenyonyiMustResign is gaining traction on the micro blogging site X, calling for his resignation.
In his defense, Ssenyonyi has stated, “When you fight corruption, it fights back!” He accused his detractors of manipulating figures to align with a Shs1.7bn service award received by Mathias Mpuuga and other commissioners.
“They’re now saying Shs1.7bn because they want it to match the other Shs1.7bn ‘service award,’” Ssenyonyi noted. He dared his accusers to release the alleged evidence, describing them as “propagandists.”
Ssenyonyi criticized his accusers for their inconsistency, saying, “You can’t say Shs1bn today, Shs1.4bn tomorrow, and then Shs1.7bn the next day. Be organized even as you spread your propaganda.”
Fearing potential peaceful protests at Parliament similar to those against Theodore Ssekikubo, who is advocating for the censure of Mpuuga and other commissioners, Ssenyonyi vowed to continue exposing corruption in Parliament.
“You will now see more ‘protesters’ paraded and ushered into Parliament against particular MPs or other nonsense on social media,” he remarked. “Nonetheless, we shall continue to speak out against corruption by the thieves in Parliament whom you all know very well!”
This is not the first time Ssenyonyi has faced resignation calls over corruption allegations. In March, activists demanded his resignation over issues related to per diem money for visiting ailing National Unity Platform (NUP) MP Muhammad Ssegirinya in a Nairobi hospital. Ssenyonyi weathered those calls by returning the excess money and defending his actions in comparison to Mpuuga’s case.