After claiming that at least two of the five MPs on remand in Luzira Prison had been sneaked out of jail to meet Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni at State House Entebbe, respected lawyer Nicholas Opiyo has apologized to Uganda Prisons Service.
Five Ugandan MPs are currently on remand in Luzira Prison over two corruption scandals: the budget for the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) and the compensation for cooperative societies.
The MPs are Igara West representative Michael Mawanda Maranga, Lwengo District Woman MP Cissy Namujju, Ignatius Wamakuyu Mudimi of Elgon County, Paul Akamba of Busiki County, and Yusuf Mutembuli, representing Bunyole East Constituency.
“Two NRM MPs charged and remanded to prisons on corruption charges were, allegedly, after their detention, secretly whisked from their detention at Luzira Prisons to meet the President at State House, Entebbe,” claimed Opiyo on July 01.
“What the president was discussing with the two legislators is unclear but it certainly undercuts his public posture as an anti-corruption crusader.”
A day later, Uganda Prisons Service responded, trashing the allegations of remanded MPs meeting with President Museveni at State House as “false.”
“False information circulating on social media platforms, purportedly by Counsel Nicholas Opiyo, alleges that two NRM MPs remanded to Luzira Prisons on corruption charges were stealthily taken to State House and met with the President. As Prisons, we categorically state that these allegations are false and unfounded,” wrote Uganda Prisons Spokesperson Frank Baine Mayanja
“According to the Prisons Act of 2006, Section 5 (A), the cardinal function of the Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) is “to ensure that every person detained legally in a prison is kept in safe, secure and humane custody, produced in court when required until lawfully discharged or removed from prison.”
Baine made it clear that “there is no reason whatsoever for prisoners to be produced at State House at any time of the day or night,” adding that “this misinformation was clearly intended to mislead the public for personal political reasons and should be totally disregarded.”
Opiyo has saluted Uganda Prisons for the “clarification on the allegations I posted” before apologizing for his mistake.
“As a former inmate of your facility, I know you to be responsive even to the wildest allegations. My contrition to all mentioned in my post,” he wrote.
Following the arrest of the MPs over corruption, Speaker Anita Among openly said one of them, Cissy Namujju, would be MP FOREVER. Another MP, Juliet Kinyamatama, who said Namujju deserved applause because she had shared what she allegedly stole with her voters, has found herself in the crossfire as activists launched #TextTheThief campaign. (See Details Here and There).
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