Money Was There but You Failed! Jacob Oboth Oboth Blasts Predecessors over Stalled Parliament Building, Redirects Speaker’s Office Budget

Makerere, Kampala – Newly elected Speaker of the 12th Parliament, Marksons Jacob Oboth Oboth, seized the moment at Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja’s thanksgiving celebrations to reinforce his anti-corruption agenda while expressing frustration over the long-delayed construction of Uganda’s new parliamentary chambers.

Oboth Oboth reiterated pledges from his maiden address, declaring “zero tolerance to corruption” and stating, “I have no monies to recover because I didn’t spend [on speaker election campaigns].”

He called for a “factory reset” of Parliament — strengthening committee oversight, reallocating resources.

He noted that he had  redirected over Shs20bn from the Speaker’s office to committees, and that he intended to insulate the institution from undue influence

The Speaker also turned his attention to the persistent infrastructure challenges facing Parliament.

In a veiled attack that appears to have been aimed at his predecessors, Jacob Oboth Oboth wondered why the new parliament chambers had stalled despite availability of funds.

He expressed concern over the stalled construction of the new parliamentary chambers, noting that funds have been consistently allocated since 2014 yet little progress has been made.

“From 2014? Unless you have something else. But not this small parliament… And it’s not that money is not there. Money is there every budget. This year there is Shs22 billion,” he remarked.

This builds on his earlier directives as Speaker, where he tasked the Clerk to Parliament with providing a comprehensive report on the project’s status and delays within two weeks.

Oboth Oboth has pledged to revive and fast-track the project to address space constraints.

The thanksgiving event for PM Nabbanja, recently reappointed and approved by Parliament alongside Vice President Jessica Alupo, brought together NRM leaders in a show of unity. Amid ongoing public demands for accountability following controversies in the previous Parliament, Oboth Oboth’s remarks signal a push for both institutional integrity and practical improvements.

Ugandans will be watching whether these commitments — on corruption, resource reallocation, and completing the new chambers — lead to tangible reforms in the coming months as well as within the next five years leading to 2031.

Jacob Oboth Oboth has also decried witchcraft in parliament and called for prayers to overcome it, as reported Here.

You can see how much money speaker Jacob Oboth Oboth and deputy speaker Thomas Tayebwa will be earning as salaries and allowances every month Here.

Details regarding the salaries and allowances of Museveni’s newly appointed ministers and how much the president earns every month are Here and There.