NUP MPs who speak and those who remain silent in parliament

What the report says

The Observer reports that a review of Parliament’s Hansard found wide differences in how National Unity Platform (NUP) MPs used the floor during May, June and July. Joseph Ssewungu, Betty Nambooze and Patrick Nsamba Oshabe emerged as among the party’s most outspoken lawmakers, often raising questions that went beyond constituency matters and into government accountability, spending and policy. Other frequently active MPs named in the review included Charles Tebandeke, Betty Ethel Naluyima, Hassan Kirumira, Joel Ssenyonyi and Paul Mwiru.

At the same time, the newspaper says 20 of NUP’s 48 MPs made no recorded plenary contribution in that three-month period. The list includes both returning legislators and first-term MPs, such as Francis Zaake, Brenda Nabukenya, Timothy Batuwa Lusala, Abubaker Kawalya, Jimmy Kanaabi and George Musisi. The article notes that the Hansard captures only floor speeches, not committee work, constituency service or other parliamentary duties, so silence in plenary does not necessarily mean a lack of activity overall.

The review also shows that some MPs used their limited interventions to highlight local service problems, including roads, healthcare and policing. Others, particularly the most active speakers, focused on issues with wider national significance. The Observer frames the findings as a broader question about what voters should expect from opposition MPs in a Parliament dominated by the ruling National Resistance Movement, and how representation should be measured beyond attendance alone.