Members of the Opposition have returned to Parliament amidst claims of anxiety for their safety while inside the House. They have asked the speaker to guarantee their security in the house since she too claimed to be ignorant about the people who forcefully threw out the suspended MPs from the parliament chambers.
During the plenary that took place yesterday, the Opposition MPs expressed their disappointment over the method used by the security operatives to evict MPs from the Chamber.
“The issue is not about the suspended law makers. It is about us against the amendment of the constitution. I was not suspended but I was thrown out which means that it was an attack on all of us.” said Hon. Ibrahim Ssemujju.
Hon. Ibrahim Ssemujju further questioned the speaker about his safety and that of the other members of parliament that were forcefully evicted.
“I am afraid that all the Parliament security was overrun by people we do not know. It is more threatening that the speaker also has no idea about them. I now wonder if my colleagues and I are safe to attend parliamentary sittings,” said Hon. Ssemujju.
The Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah however apologized to the MPs that were brutally thrown out and said that the events of that day were highly regrettable, and the force used was unnecessary.
“I am praying that we don’t face such incidences again. The nature of security dictated that we have the Directorate of Police to help the Sergeant at Arms with security. However, what happened that day is unacceptable. You should not fear entering the chambers because we are now having your security as a priority and that incident is being investigated,” said Hon. Oulanyah.
In addition, the Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Winfred Kiiza noted that, following the decision by Parliament to allow MPs to go and consult over the Constitution Amendment Bill 2017, MPs especially those against the Bill were blocked by police from holding consultations.
