“It’s Not in my Hands”- Ssenyonyi Clarifies on Shs354M Monthly Budget for his Office

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Joel Ssenyonyi, has come out to clarify about reports that his office receives a staggering Shs354 million monthly.

The amount in question has recently sparked public outrage, especially in a country where an estimated 42% of the population survives on less than Shs220,000 a month.

The controversy was ignited by activist Gordon Toko, who took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize the allocation, calling it a “gross abuse of taxpayers’ money.”

Toko noted that the annual LoP budget currently stands at Shs4.243 billion, comparing it to the 2021 Speaker’s budget of Shs4.432 billion- a figure the late Jacob Oulanyah, then Speaker, had described as too high and sought to reduce to Shs2 billion.

Toko further alleged that the current parliamentary leadership under Speaker Anita Among has presided over huge budget increases: a 37% rise for the LoP, 384% for the Speaker herself, and over 400% for the Deputy Speaker.

He suggested that these increases were a calculated move to suppress dissent, quipping: “Parliament is the Bribe.”

In response, Ssenyonyi acknowledged the concerns but emphasized that the public misunderstanding lies in assuming the funds are under his personal discretion.

“This is a legitimate concern, especially because it involves taxpayers’ money,” Ssenyonyi stated.

The LoP explained that unlike the Speaker and her deputy, whose offices serve only themselves and their personal staff, the LoP’s budget covers activities and personnel for all opposition Members of Parliament.

“The LOP’s budget caters to opposition MPs and staff, unlike the Speaker and Deputy Speaker who don’t have MPs under them,” he said.

Furthermore, Ssenyonyi distanced himself from any direct control over the Shs4.2 billion budget, stating that decisions on its usage are tightly controlled by the Speaker’s office.

“So contrary to what some believe, the budget for the office of LOP is not money that goes to the pocket of the office bearer. If anything, I don’t even have control over that budget, the Speaker has to always clear any activities that we propose to do as the Opposition, and sometimes she doesn’t give clearance even if it’s budgeted for,” he explained.

Ssenyonyi further cited a recent incident where opposition activities that had been allocated funds were blocked due to the unavailability of resources, despite the money being present on paper.

“Some time recently as the Opposition we planned to execute some activities which were budgeted for, but the Finance department told us the money was not available, even though on paper (budget) it was,” Ssenyonyi said.

“I wrote to the Clerk to Parliament as the Accounting Officer, asking him what happened to the resources since we had not utilized them. He wrote back to me explaining that the Speaker had directed for the usage of that money for different Parliament activities which I didn’t even know about,” he added.

Ssenyonyi further stated that he has raised concerns multiple times over such practices, which he said undermine transparency and the proper functioning of the opposition in Parliament.

His remarks come amid a broader debate on transparency, institutional control, and budgetary priorities in Uganda’s Parliament, especially as public scrutiny of government spending intensifies amidst widespread poverty.