The leader of the opposition in parliament (LOP) Joel Ssenyonyi today re-tabled before parliament, a list of 18 and other 54 missing NUP supporters that have been for years in state detention centers without trial.
It should be recalled that yesterday, while making his maiden speech as a new minister, the State Minister for Youth Affairs Mr Balaam Barugahara requested the LOP to furnish him with list, so as to put an end to excuses given by Government as missing opposition supporters continued to rot in prisons.
This is the second time the LOP is tabling the lists of NUP supporters most of whom were abducted during and after the chaotic 2021 general elections. While re-tabling the lists the leader of the opposition told the speaker and members that he decided to table the list again so that NUP is not blamed for refusing to avail the lists.
Ssenyonyi further noted that it is good that now even the ministers agree with NUP that those people are being persecuted by government.
“If there was any offense that they committed, three years down the road, they should have been brought in the courts of law and tried” he stated.
Deputy Speaker Tayebwa yet again found fault with Ssenyonyi’s diction, arguing that when Balaam demanded the list of the missing persons, he wasn’t pretending but he was carrying out serious business as Minister and that his actions were done in good faith.
In response to the speaker, Ssenyonyi again took a swipe at the new minister adding that if Balaam had undergone some training on Parliamentary affairs, he would have known where and how to access those lists within Parliament.
“We’ve tabled these lists in Parliament before, shared the same with UHRC, and the same records are in court where the matters are.
So for those fellows in Gov’t who say they agree with us that their Gov’t is brutal and continues to illegally detain political opponents, they can access the lists, and stop pretending that they don’t know who these people are or where the lists are.” Ssenyonyi later noted in a statement.
“We continue to demand for the immediate release of these Ugandans who are being persecuted. Recently, myself and other MPs stood surety for those in jail after the court martial irregularly rejected their parents and spouses as sureties saying they are not substantial” he adds.