Makindye West Member of Parliament Allan Ssewanyana and his Kawempe North counterpart, Muhammad Ssegirinya, who have been facing murder charges, were on Tuesday, April 4 welcomed back to Parliament after spending close to two years in prison.
The National Unity Platform (NUP) MPs had only spent 110 days in the House before they were sent to prison over the mentioned charges. However, they were released last month on bail.
Despite their intention to hold a procession through the city to parliament, the duo arrived calmly at the house after police warned against the planned march.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, who presided over the Tuesday sitting, officially welcomed the legislators back to parliament before proceeding with the day’s business.
In a tweet, Tayebwa said, “We are happy to be welcoming back our two colleagues, the Hon. Allan Ssewanyana and Hon. Ssegirinya Muhammad. We are always happy when we see our colleagues here being able to join us in the deliberations of this house.”
The MPs have revealed that there is much catching up to do as many projects that they had started in their respective constituencies need to be revamped. Mr Ssegirinya said on Monday ahead of his return to parliament,
“The voices of our people have been missing in Parliament because I was not there to speak for them, but now that I am back, I will be able to speak for the people of Kawempe North. I will also embark on the programmes which I started before being arrested and I know we have lost incredible time, but we shall proceed with what we were doing for our people.” Mr Ssegirinya said on Monday ahead of his return to parliament.
The MPs were arrested in September 2021 after they were accused of being behind the wave of machete killings of about 30 people in the Greater Masaka region.
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