Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Mr Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi reacts during his maiden presentation on the floor of Parliament on April 3, 2024. PHOTO/ PARLIAMENT
Hours after the newly appointed Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Mr Balaam Barugahara Ateenyi took oath as an ex-officio of Parliament, the Leader of Opposition in Parliament,
Joel Ssenyonyi
poked his maiden presentation on the floor of the House describing him as an “excited novice minister”.
In his maiden presentation on the floor or Parliament, Balaam accused National Unity Platform (NUP) leaders of snubbing his request to handover the list of opposition supporters believed to be held in different detention facilities as political prisoners, in order to secure their release by President Museveni.
“When I was in the Appointments Committee, the Speaker Anita Among asked me to speak to the President to ensure that National Unity Platform (NUP) Supporters are released, and the President in his own voice and video he said, give me the list. I requested NUP to give me the list. I hope the Leader of Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi is here. I am yet to get it,” said Balaam.
However, Mr Ssenyonyi criticized Parliament for allowing Balaam to speak, without first undergoing orientation on how Parliament operates, arguing the list of the missing persons was given to the Attorney General and that some of the political prisoners are being persecuted in various courts of law, including the General Court Martial based in Makindye, Kampala.
“It is important as Parliament; we orient our new colleagues on our modus operandi. How we operate, point of order and the like. We discussed in this very Parliament, issues of missing persons, some we were disappeared, people who are in jail irregularly. Some missing persons for whom the Prime Minister acknowledged are in the hands of the State like John Bosco Kibalama. We tabled that list here in Parliament, we gave it to the Attorney General, court is processing many of these matters and we have asked that they be released on bail because this isn’t prosecution but persecution,” Mr Ssenyonyi said.
“Is it in order for a new Minister, who seems to be a novice to come with excitement and claim that he has mandate to pursue a matter of people who are simply being persecuted as opposed to being prosecuted,” the Nakawa West MP added before his microphone was switched off as some MPs, especially from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) government side shouted him down.
However, the Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa who presided over the plenary session castigated
Mr Ssenyonyi for the alleged disrespectful language he used against Balaam saying, “You know the language we use in Parliament, even when you disagree with a person, language is like ‘a novice’. A Member of Parliament, is a Member of Parliament. So do the needful, you are a gentleman there is a language we don’t use here. Do the needful and retract the statement.”
In his rebuttal, Mr Ssenyonyi took the floor to attempt to educate the House the meaning of novice.
“As a lawyer and as someone who knows English, the word novice means someone who is new to the profession. Balaam is a new Minister so the word novice isn’t derogatory in anyway, except for people we need to teach some English,” he said.
This compelled Mr Tayebwa to order the Clerk to Parliament to expunge Mr Ssenyonyi’s submissions from the record of Parliament.
The expunging of Ssenyonyi’s remarks meant that Balaam’s accusations against
NUP that the Party has failed to handover list of missing persons remains unchallenged on the record of Parliament.
Several NUP supporters are currently held in detention facilities across the country on vairious offences following their arrest during the 2021 presidential campaigns.
Others are being prosecuted before the General Court Martial with many of their attempts to be released on bail failing.
