By Johnson Kanyesige
The Leader of Opposition in Parliament Joel Ssenyonyi on Thursday re-tabled before parliament a list of the detained and missing National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters as requested by Balaam Barugahara, the Minister of State for Youth Affairs.
Deputy Speaker Mr Thomas Tayebwa however found fault in Ssenyonyi’s diction, arguing that when Balaam requested for the list of missing persons on Wednesday, he wasn’t pretending but was rather carrying out serious business as a minister and that his actions were in good faith.
“These are lists you gave to government officials and he (Balaam) hadn’t received any prior copies of those lists,” Tayebwa explained.
In response, Ssenyonyi again re-emphasized the need for Parliament to orient new members, arguing that had Balaam undergone some training on Parliamentary affairs, he would have known where and how to access that lists within Parliament.
“Yesterday, when I mentioned the issue of orientation, some people thought it was in bad faith, we all do need it. When I got here in Parliament, we had to be oriented and we continue to learn. So, it is a good thing that when new members do join us and there is information that they require, they should be helped how to access it. Like you have rightly said, we tabled those lists severally and so, they are within the records,” said Ssenyonyi
