Hon. Mathias Mpuuga has said that no one will force him into corruption because he has never been corrupt.
Mr Mpuuga was responding to a letter addressed to the speaker of Parliament by NUP about their decision to withdraw the mandate and nomination of Hon. Mathias Mpuuga as Parliamentary Commissioner.
“You will recall that on 22. December 2023, I notified you of the Party’s decision to nominate Hon. Mathias Mpuuga as Commissioner of Parliament in accordance with Section 2(2b) of the Administration of Parliament Act and Rule 11(4) of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament,” reads the letter.
The letter further reads “The Party has now decided to withdraw its nomination of Hon. Mathias Mpuuga and consequently recalled him from that position.
“Accordingly, the Party hereby nominates Hon Zaake Francis who was unconstitutionally removed from that position on 10″ March, 2022 (As confirmed by the Constitutional Court in Const. petition N. 6 of 2022).
“Please note that if Hon Mathias Mpuuga remains in the Parliamentary Commission as a Member, he will do so without the mandate of the Party and the opposition platform.”
Mpuuga said that he will not comment on that letter because he confessed to no wrongdoing.
“I will not respond to that letter, save to restate my position as communicated earlier to the Party and nation that I affirm the fact that I confess no wrongdoing whether in law or elementary common sense,” boldly said Mpuuga.
He added; “The position of the law has been clarified to whoever wishes to understand but not to deliberately slander me or gain short-term political capital out of the current situation.
“So, I do state my position, it is the position of the law and common sense. I wish to reassure all comrades in the struggle for a fair Uganda that my commitment has never waned and I will not and shall never be part of any form of corruption.
“I have never been indicted of corruption, I am never corrupt and nobody will invite me into corruption.”
Mpuuga is accused of conniving with the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among and three other Parliamentary Commissioners and unlawfully allocating a total of Shs1.7 billion to themselves as “Service Awards.”
Out of the 1.7 billion, Mpuuga was personally allocated Shs500 million.
The matter has caused uproar among members of the general public, while NUP has termed it as corruption, abuse of office and mismanagement of public affairs by the leadership of the Parliament.
The party asked Mpuuga to return the money, apologize to the people of Uganda, and step down from his role as Commissioner of Parliament.
The Nyendo Mukungwe lawmaker rejected all the demands.
