President Yoweri Museveni has expressed concern over service awards given to Mathias Mpuuga, the former Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and NRM-nominated Parliamentary Commissioners, totaling UGX 1.7 billion.

In a May 3, 2024, letter to Attorney-General Kiryowa Kiwanuka, Museveni questioned the legality and morality of these awards, and instructed the IGG, CID, and DPP to investigate the potential violations of the Leadership Code and the Anti-Corruption Act. “Were you aware of these ‘awards’? If you were aware, was it legal?” Museveni inquired.

The president emphasized the importance of upholding revolutionary principles and criticized the conduct as reminiscent of past regimes known for accumulating wealth at the expense of the country’s development.

“I have been following the public debate on the service awards apparently given to the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and what you call back-bench Parliamentary Commissioners……Were you aware of these ‘awards’? Or the Attorney General does not need to know about this. If you were aware, did you advise that it was legal?” Mr Museveni asked.

“The moral question is settled. Such conduct is contrary to the revolutionary principles of the NRM. When we were fighting Obote and Amin, we used to call it primitive accumulation of wealth. Why? Officials under those regimes were trying to get for themselves as much money as possible in the quickest time possible, in the easiest way possible,” Mr Museveni asked.

“We used to ask them, “Where does this leave your country?” he added, before revealing how the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, who both sit on the parliamentary Commission informed him that they only learnt about it in the news, “even when they are members of the Parliamentary Commission.”

It should be understood that during the May 06 2022 meeting in which the MPs shared the service award, both the Prime Minister and Finance Minister Matia Kasaija were absent from the commission sitting with an apology.

President Museveni in his letter also wondered how the Parliamentary Commissioners, who apparently earn more than other MPs, awarded themselves all that money. “How can Parliamentary Commissioners, who apparently earn more than other MPs, award themselves all that money? What special services did they provide? Who approved the awards?” he further questioned.

“I am told that it was never discussed by Parliament or the Committee on Legal Affairs. Find out. When we are struggling to find money for roads, electricity, and other sectors that bring value into our economy? However, conduct which is only immoral and not illegal may not be punished legally but politically,” he said.