Members of Parliament (MPs), led by Lwemiyaga legislator Theodore Ssekikuubo, who are pushing for a censure motion against parliamentary commissioners who allocated themselves Shs1.7 billion, have said that MPs in the Ankole region have gone into hiding and switched off their phones to avoid appending their signatures to the censure motion.

Ssekikuubo and the group, who camped at Mbarara City Council over the weekend, stated that other MPs in the region are not picking their calls, something they say is an intended move by some lawmakers from the region to thwart their efforts.

“Out of the 47 MPs in the Ankole sub-region, only 15 have signed the motion. I wonder why the rest are running away from us amidst the storm surrounding parliament,” said Ssekikuubo.

The MPs pushing for the motion, however, say they will travel to Northern Uganda, West Nile, and Lango regions this week to meet MPs who have not yet signed the motion.

The MPs hope to attain the remaining seven signatures needed to reach the required 177 signatures for the motion to be tabled in parliament.

The four commissioners are accused of allocating themselves Shs1.7 billion as a ‘service award.’

Former Leader of Opposition Mathias Mpuuga reportedly received Shs500 million, while the other commissioners – Solomon Silwany (Bukooli Central), Esther Afoyochan (Zombo Woman), and Prossy Mbabazi (Rubanda Woman) – received Shs400 million each. The meeting in which this money was allocated and approved was chaired by Speaker Anita Among.