Censure Motion Hits A Wall: Ssekikubo Struggles To Gain Support
A controversial censure motion against four parliamentary commissioners has stalled, with the mover, Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo (NRM) alongside his seconders, failing to garner the required 177 signatures from MPs to officially, kick-start their desired impeachment process.
On May 21st, 2024, Ssekikubo and his group told a press conference that they had started collecting signatures from 529 MPs with a two-week deadline.
To charge MPs to embrace their motion, Ssekikubo engaged a blackmail gear.
“I also want to call upon the voters to crosscheck whether your MPs have appended their signatures, we shall be publishing this list and please see those MPs who aren’t here to serve you,” Ssekikubo said.
Despite numerous attempts, Ssekikubo has only managed to secure a handful of signatures, with many MPs refusing to support what they see as a “politically motivated attack” on Commissioners.
Given the potency the leadership of the largest opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) has exerted in witch-hunting and hounding, former Leader of opposition Mathias Mpuuga, Ssekikubo’s motion, widely viewed as a tool for political point scoring, has been met with resistance from MPs who accuse the mover of blackmail, in a bipartisan manner.
Some MPs have even questioned Ssekikubo’s real intentions with land-grabbing allegations hovering around his head and the fact that necessary channels of parliament duly processed the accused commissioners’ service award, only exploiting the “ignorance” of some MPs.
“It started from the smaller group of nine people, the parliamentary commissioners. It went to a committee that has 35 members [Legal and Parliamentary Affairs]. It came to the house, the committee of Supply which is the entire house and they supplies and that budget was executed, there is nothing illegal about that,” Herbert Ariko, Soroti East MP who captured the meeting’s minutes as the executive secretary of the Speaker at the time, said.
“Maybe, as members of Parliament, we should charge ourselves and ask; did we or didn’t we scrutinize the provisions that were in the budget of that time or not? Because why do we wake up one and half years later to say, this happened? We should have seen it that time and defeated it that time,” he added.
Unending Deadlines
Every deadline Ssekikubo has been setting has been broken to postpone. When the first deadline elapsed, the veteran legislator who has been accused of playing “grandstanding” politics came to address the presser on June 7, 2024.
“I want to announce that we are not closing the exercise today to leave no stone unturned. The prayer of members is granted. Members were praying that we leave it over the weekend. Our receiving of signatures is still open over the weekend up to Monday. Monday is the day we shall have no other option but to proceed to publish whoever would have given us their signatures.” Ssekikubo said.
The deadline set by himself, also elapsed. However, when it ended, a perturbed veteran legislator came declare the deadline for collecting signatures open-ended and after weeks of futile signatures’ collection exercise, Ssekikubo changed method of work.
In a surprising turn of events, one Morning of June 24th, 2024, Ssekikubo wrote to the same parliamentary commission they accuse of corruption and abuse of office through the Clerk to Parliament Adolf Mwesige, asking for help in securing signatures from MPs in their constituencies.
“As you are aware, we embarked to the collection of signatures to censure the four commissioners. The house being adjourned until last July has made this task challenging as most members have returned to their constituencies.” Ssekikubo’s letter reads in part.
This move left many wondering if Ssekikubo and group are genuinely seeking to hold the commissioners accountable or simply trying to revive their “own political fortunes.”
However, Parliament delayed responding to Ssekikubo’s request, but a week later, Ssekikubo hit the road to Ankole sub-region at the beginning of July where sub-region’s MPs left him to just rioter around districts therein.
“We are here in Ankole. We visited Bushenyi and Mbarara but the legislators’ phones are unavailable. Some that have gone through went unanswered,” a perturbed Ssekikubo said.
Ssekikubo’s Ankole sub-region tour came just days after he had been denied a microphone to speak to congregants for CDF General Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s thanksgiving party organized by his supporters in Bunyoro at Booma Grounds in Hoima on June 30.
“We can’t allow MPs from Buganda to come and cause chaos here,” MP Hariet Businge, the vice chairperson Bunyoro Parliamentary caucus reportedly said, “Bunyoro has its leaders, you can’t come and you forcefully want to grab a microphone, it shows indiscipline, who invited him here anyway?”
“It’s a bad gesture, when we look for them in Kampala they hide, so we decided to come and find them in Bunyor, but the members have chosen to act like so and denied me a chance to even greet the population,” Ssekubo said, “we need just nine signatures and I see the turn up was enough here but they have all run away.”
Prior to MPs’ headhunt, Ssekikubo, had expected that MPs would append their signatures during the four mega sittings of parliament; the State-of-the-Nation on 7th June 2024, the Budget speech day, on 13th June 2024, and the special plenary sitting that reconsidered the appropriation bill, 2024 on 2nd July 2024, but hopes were dashed.
Pushing it a no end in sight on 7th/ July, Ssekikubo used a burial ceremony of Mzee Nsamba Kayindo, the father to Kassanda South’s Patrick Nsamba, another motion’s promoter, Ssekikubo reported NUP MPs who declined to sign, saying, “sir, the President of NUP, we are waiting for some of your members, we don’t see them.”
On 8 July 2024 at Parliament, Ssekikubo briefed Parliamentary reporters, majority of MPs are disinterested in his motion, now relying on electorates to force them to side with him.
With the motion stalled and little signs of progress, many are left asking what is next. Will Ssekikubo concede defeat and withdraw the motion, or will he continue to push for what many perceive a futile and politically motivated effort?