Shortly after Mr. Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi, the newly appointed Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs took his oath as an ex-officio of Parliament, he made his debut speech on the House floor.
During his speech, Mr. Balaam accused leaders of the National Unity Platform (NUP) of ignoring his request for a list of opposition supporters believed to be held in various detention facilities. He claimed that President Museveni had asked for the list to consider their release.
Responding to Balaam’s remarks, Mr. Ssenyonyi criticized Parliament for allowing the Minister to speak without proper orientation on parliamentary procedures. He clarified that the list of missing persons had been submitted to the Attorney General, and many of them were facing legal proceedings, including in the General Court Martial.
However, some MPs, mostly from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM), interrupted Mr. Ssenyonyi’s speech, leading to his microphone being turned off.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa reprimanded Mr. Ssenyonyi for using what he deemed as disrespectful language towards Balaam. Despite Mr. Ssenyonyi’s attempt to explain the term “novice,” the Deputy Speaker ordered his remarks to be removed from the parliamentary record.
As a result, Balaam’s accusations against NUP regarding the alleged failure to provide the list of missing persons remained unchallenged in the parliamentary record.
Currently, several NUP supporters are detained across the country on various charges stemming from the 2021 presidential campaigns, with some facing prosecution in the General Court Martial and struggling to secure bail.
