The parliament has stated circumstances under which the commissioner can be removed from this position which includes vacating a seat as a member of parliament,inability to perform the functions of his office arising from infirmity of body and mind ,misbehaviour,misconduct or incompetence.
”The above notwithstanding, Honourable Mathias Mpuuga has neither vacated his seat as a member of Parliament in accordance with article 83 of the Constitution nor has he been, upon a motion moved in strict compliance with the rules of procedure, found guilty by Parliament for inability to perform the functions of his office arising from infirmity of body or mind, misbehaviour, misconduct or incompetence,” in part read the letter from the office of the Speaker of Parliament.
This comes after NUP’s decision to withdraw its nomination of Hon.Mathias Mpuuga as Commissioner of Parliament following accusations of corruption,dishonesty and abuse of office when he together with National Resistance Movement NRM members allocated themselves 1.7Billion shillings as service awards when he was still the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament .
In a letter written to National Unity Platform in response to the request to recalling Mpuuga as commisioner it has been made null and void because he has not been found guilty of the accusations as per the constitution.
”The above provision is reiterated in rule 110 (1) of the Rules of Procedure. Moreover, under rule 110(2) the process of removal of a commissioner is by a motion for a resolution for removal of a commissioner initiated by a notice in writing to the Clerk to Parliament signed by not less than one third of all the voting members of Parliament indicating their intention to remove the member. This means that with the total voting members of Parliament being 529 the notice should be supported by not less than 177 members of Parliament. Your letter referred to above falls short of the requirements of rule 110 of the Rules of Procedure and accordingly, is incurably defective.”
”Parties lack the requisite legal mandate to recall a commissioner of Parliament once elected by Parliament. To do as you request would amount to fettering the authority vested in the House by the clear and unambiguous section 5 of the Administration of Parliament Act resulting in undesirable legal consequences in line with the decision of the Constitutional Court of Uganda in Fox Odoi-Oywelowo and James Akampumuza Versus Attorney General, Constitutional Petition No.8 of 2003.Your letter therefore, and desire of the National Unity Platform, has no basis or foundation in law. I can therefore not implement it,” the letter read.
During a press conference,Mpuuga,the former Leader of opposition in Parliament, assured supporters,members and leaders of NUP that as a party founder he has no intentions of leaving or doing anything that would destroy a young party he contributed to its existence.
“I wish to state that I am a founder member of NUP where I serve as a deputy president.I am not leaving the party I founded and I am not doing anything that destroys young party I participated in establishing with conscience and conviction.Atleast I am not yet moved to that level.”Hon.Mathias Mpuuga.
