By Caroline Kirabo
Joel Ssenyonyi replaces Nyendo-Mukungwe Member of Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba, who has been named Commissioner of Parliament.
Ssenyonyi, the spokeswoman of the NUP, was the head of the parliamentary committee on commissions, statutory authorities, and state enterprises (COSASE).
Mr. Mpuuga has been the Leader of Opposition since May 28, 2021, meaning that he has served as the LOP for 2 years, 6 months, and 26 days.
While in this place, Mathias Mpuuga Nsamba has been at the forefront of demanding the release of the 18 missing NUP supporters.
Mathias Mpuuga, together with others, has advocated against alleged gross human rights violations, which include illegal arrests and abductions, among others.
At the start of October, Mathias Mpuuga led the opposition MPs out of the plenary sittings for almost two months in protest of the government’s lavity in offering an explanation about missing Ugandans, and at the start of this month, opposition MPs went back to the plenary sittings after the government’s statement in which Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otaffiire, the minister of Internal Affairs, said that the police had started the investigations.
During his last two months in office, Mpuuga has faced standoffs with the prime minister, Robbinah Nabbanja, the deputy speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, and Mariam Wangadya, the chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, over the issues of missing NUP party supporters.
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, the president of the NUP, while addressing the media at the party headquarters, said the replacement of Mpuuga should not be considered a sacking, adding that the NUP as a political party believes in a moral change in leadership.