Tumwine says accusations of maligning speaker are malicious

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Security Minister Gen. Elly Tumwine has described as malicious, allegations of contempt of parliament brought against him by fellow legislators, Atkins Katusabe and Cecilia Ogwal.

The two legislators accused Tumwine of questioning the powers of parliament, directives issued by the legislature, and the position of Speaker, which he allegedly said do not have any bearing on the army.

In the aftermath of a discussion about his attitude, Tumwine allegedly attacked Cecilia Ogwal for bringing out an incident in the Seventh Parliament, where the army MP drew a gun at her. The matter was referred to the Rules Committee of parliament for investigations.

But Tumwine told the committee today that the allegations were made with an intention to put into disrepute, his character, service as Member of Parliament and officer of Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

In the company of two lawyers, Tumwine told the committee chaired by Kalaki County MP Clement Kenneth Ongalo-Obote that he has maintained a clean record over the years, through his service in Parliament, the Internal Security Organisation (ISO), the General Court Martial, in the cabinet and the UPDF.

“I took the grave allegations very seriously…. My public service record is very clear, I am not the person who has been depicted before this committee by Hon. Atkins Katusabe and Hon. Cecilia Ogwal. That is not Gen. Tumwine. Gen. Tumwine’s record is clear and should be respected,” said Tumwine.

He said that the allegations against him are false, malicious, taken out of context and made with the specific intention of demeaning his character, reputation as an experienced and long-serving legislator and calling into question his discipline and that of UPDF.

Tumwine said that he could not demean parliament and question the position of the Speaker in any way.

Gen. Tumwine recollected that he had an engagement with MP Katusabe on July 22, 2019, at his office and that it is from their discussion that the legislator blew his statements out of context.

He said that the same meeting was attended by State Minister for Health Sarah Opendi as opposed to statements by Katusabe that the meeting was between the two of them. He said that the meeting between him and Katusabe was pushed for my Opendi and not Katusabe himself.

Tumwine also told the committee that allegations by Cecilia Ogwal about threatening her life were in bad faith.

“The allegations arise from the assurance I gave her about the lies to parliament. She also imputed improper motives that I doctored the CCTV footage. For the record, it is the Speaker and Sergeant at Arms who control the security of Parliament and I have never entered parliament with a gun,” Tumwine said.

He says that Ogwal’s plan was to incite the public and MPs using parliament and that he reserves legal rights on the matter.

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