By Joseph Kiggundu
PARLIAMENT. Panic has gripped Parliament as management kicks off fresh vetting of its staff today, Monday ,October 19 .
All parliamentary staff are expected to have their academic qualifications and employment records scrutinised afresh.
The exercise targets all employees drawing salaries from Parliament, including those in the Office of the Speaker, the Clerk to Parliament, and security personnel.
The workers are expected to have their academic papers checked and recruitment criteria verified, to confirm that proper procedures were followed and their files contain all required documents.
Parliament Speaker Jacob Markson Oboth, who announced the exercise during a plenary last Thursday, said the head of the Public Service would support the exercise.
Mr Oboth, in moving to execute this validation, seems to stand firm on his promises.
Shortly after being elected Speaker of the 12th Parliament in May this year, Mr Oboth promised to review the terms of employment of the current Parliament staff, revise Parliament’s budget and redirect some of what he called wasteful expenditure to parliamentary Committees and other departments that needed the money more.
In line with his inauguration pledge, Mr Oboth on Thursday declared, “All employees of Parliament will go through what they call a validation exercise; they will all speak to their documents to validate. Beginning from the clerk’s office to the gate man, everyone, whether you are in the office of the Speaker or wherever, every person who draws a salary from Parliament as an employee is going through validation beginning Monday.”
In his seven-point governance agenda, Mr Oboth had emphasised fighting corruption, strengthening oversight, improving accountability, and restoring public confidence in the Parliament.
He pledged his leadership would uphold fact-based debate, conduct timely oversight on government institutions, and crack down on the misuse of public funds.
This move now seems targeted at addressing some of these allegations, including irregular recruitment of scores of staff, who secured jobs during the 11th Parliament through connections without following the established recruitment procedures.
The number of parliamentary staff to be affected in this re-evaluation process was not quantified, but Article 87 (2) of the Constitution provides that there shall be such other members of staff as may be necessary for the efficient discharge of the functions of Parliament. The members of staff are public officers who are appointed by the Parliamentary Commission.
But Ms Grace Gidudu, the Parliament’s acting director of communication and Public Affairs, described the validation exercise as a routine human resource management practice conducted across government ministries, departments and agencies.
She said the process aims to establish staff qualifications, job placements, and job descriptions, employment history, and verify whether or not their personnel files contain all the necessary documents.
“We’ve been getting staff over the years, so this is just a routine validation exercise to know the staff and what qualifications they have. Nothing much about it,” Ms Gidudu said.
“You remember the Auditor General did a validation; even the public service validated public servants. That is it. It’s a common human resources practice. There’s nothing much to it.”
The 11th Parliament under Ms Annet Anita Among was accused of corruption, nepotism, favouritism, mismanagement of funds, and extravagance in the conduct of both public office and her personal affairs.
During the same period, journalist Agather Atuhaire and academic Dr Spire Ssentongo in 2024 launched the ‘Uganda Parliament Exhibition’ on microblogging platform X, formerly Twitter, which went viral, to expose what they claimed were under-the-radar operations of the 11th Parliament that splashed money on donations and foreign trips, and a Shs1.7 million service award to Parliament commissioners.
The publicly sourced and shared information exposed questionable undertakings that implicated top leadership and public officials in Parliament.
The outcries over claims of corruption, abuse of office, financial mismanagement, and maladministration escalated into the March to Parliament, in which a section of youth walked to Parliament to express their displeasure but were arrested by armed security, charged in court, remanded, and later granted bail.
At the time, the US Department of State slapped travel sanctions against Ms Among on May 30, 2024, with Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for the US Department of State, saying Ms Among was designated due to involvement in significant corruption tied to her leadership of Uganda’s Parliament.
These accusations have not been proven, although seven Parliament officials were charged before the anti-graft court in July this year over alleged involvement in corruption. They were later released on bail, pending the hearing of the cases.
The officials included Mr Chris Ariko Obore, the director of communications; Mr Daniel Adilo, the director, human resource; Mr Leonard Okema, the executive secretary, Office of the Speaker; Mr Rajab Kaaya Ssemalulu, the principal research officer; Mr Emmanuel Emuron Okwi, the principal protocol officer; and Mr Vincent Otebata, the development officer.
The ombudsman claimed the officers, who have since been interdicted from their duties, in their respective capacities, allegedly received Shs26 billion for donations, corporate social responsibility and engagement activities of Parliament but did not implement them, knowing or having reason to believe their activities would cause financial loss to the government. The officials deny the charges.
Similarly, Ms Among came under scrutiny after the security agencies investigated allegations relating to her wealth and accumulation of assets.
The probe included searches at her residences in Greater Kampala and country homes in Bukedea, as well as the seizure of some of her high-value vehicles that included a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, estimated at Shs3.4 billion, and a Range Rover.
The investigations followed Ms Among’s fallout with the establishment in May, and was subjected to tight security restrictions for close to 100 days.
The Inspectorate of Government is understood to have completed its part of the inquiry and submitted its findings to President Museveni for further management.