MP Florence Asiimwe speaks out on boycotting Kyankwanzi retreat over bed space

Asiimwe said she had made up her mind to return to Kampala after being told she would stay in a room shared by four people.

Masindi District Woman MP Florence Asiimwe Akiiki has defended her decision to leave the ongoing NRM parliamentary caucus retreat in Kyankwanzi, saying the accommodation offered to legislators did not reflect the dignity of elected leaders.

Her explanation follows the circulation of a viral video on Tuesday showing her preparing to leave the National Leadership Institute (NALI) after complaining about being assigned a shared dormitory-style room.

The retreat, which runs from April 7 to April 15, brought together NRM MPs-elect and invited guests at Kyankwanzi, where debate over the 12th Parliament leadership has alsointensified.

Asiimwe said she had made up her mind to return to Kampala after being told she would stay in a room shared by four people.

“I found Hon Mao at the gate doing a media interview and I told him I was leaving in protest because I was placed in a room of four people. I told him I was going back to Kampala. Mao urged me to wait a while for Hon Todwong but I told him I could not,” she said.

Asiimwe says she travelled to Kyankwanzi on April 7th separately by car and arrived at about 3pm, hoping to secure one of the better rooms.

But after registration, she was directed to seek accommodation in the Thomas Sankara and Oliver Tambo dormitories, where female participants were being housed.

Asiimwe said she objected after being informed by an official identified as Aisha that she would sleep in a four-person room fitted with two bunk beds.

She argued that such arrangements were not suitable for Members of Parliament, especially senior figures seeking top office. Asiimwe is one of several politicians who have declared interest in the speakership of the 12th Parliament, a race that also includes incumbent Speaker Anita Among, Norbert Mao, Lydia Wanyoto and others.

“I told her I wanted a better room because I am a candidate for speaker. She refused, insisting that I had to sleep in a room of four. This room has two bunk beds. Imagine an MP sleeping up in a bunk bed. What if I fall down?” she said.

After she fell on deaf ears, she says, she decided to leave the retreat and return to Kampala.

Asiimwe noted that the facilities at Kyankwanzi need improvement, arguing that Parliament and the ruling party should plan better for such events.

“The truth is the situation at Kyankwanzi does not accord respect to elected MPs. An election cycle is five years and they know that every cycle, there has to be a retreat. They need to improve the facilities. MPs need to have good accommodation facilities. The olden days of the bush war are over,” she said.