Grapevine

Mpuuga’s Shs500m service award was in national budget - court

The High Court in Kampala has ruled that the Shs500 million service award to the former Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga and the Shs400 million awarded to three commissioners of Parliament who are members of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) was part of the national budget approved by Parliament.

However, the court has ordered the Secretary to the Treasury to initiate disciplinary proceedings against the Clerk to Parliament, Adolf Mwesigye, for his role in the decision-making and implementation process of these contested service awards.

Justice Douglas Karekona Singiza in a case filed on May 23, 2025 by a concerned citizen, Mr Daniel Bwette has ruled that the vote for Ex-Gratia payments was presented in the Appropriations Bill by the Executive and passed by Parliament.

“In my view, it is probably not right for this Court to inquire into the procedure which the Executive and Parliament adopted while exercising their respective functions. One would expect that both bodies scrutinised the specific payments to be made, but that is beyond the ambit of this application. The oversight power of this Court in this matter remains focused on the procedure that the respondent followed in arriving at the decision on the service award, notwithstanding that the money used to pay for the impugned award was part of the national budget,” Justice Singiza said.

According to the judge, the argument of conflict of interest as had been raised by Mr Bwette was not sustainable given that in terms of section 42 AOPA, the allowances of members of the Parliamentary Commission are determined by the Commission with the approval of Parliament.