Uganda Speaker reveals NRM frustration

ByaseL · 2014-06-03T09:20:35+00:00

Speaker prefers no-party movement system I have had several skirmishes with my partythere was an attempt to appoint an incompetent judge and I refused to invite him to the committee Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has revealed her frustration at working with a very restrictive NRM party in parliament. Speaking during the week-long 25th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association seminar in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, last week, Kadaga accused her party of killing free debate in the House. Many times members are unable to speak freely, because the [NRM] caucus has not given them instructions, not because they are incompetent, Kadaga said. She was responding to questions raised by Tanzanian and Ghanaian MPs, following her presentation: The role of the presiding officer (Speaker) and staff of parliament on the growth of parliamentary democracy. Sometimes when a member speaks out of [excitement], the chief whip (Justine Lumumba) will be on phone within the next 20 minutes, [grilling the MP]; who asked you to say that? The whip will be following the member, she said. Asked by a group of Tanzanian MPs that visited the Ugandan parliament early this year why in one of the sessions it was mainly opposition MPs dominating debate, Kadaga said: Maybe you saw that on a day when there was something of that sort in my House; the members of the ruling party must have been afraid to speak because the whip had not told them what to say, and whereas on the opposition, they are speaking freely. Kadaga, who is also chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Association, told the meeting about attempts by the NRM leadership to force her to push though unconstitutional party interests. I have had several skirmishes with my partythere was an attempt to appoint an incompetent judge and I refused to invite him to the committee, she told the meeting, without naming names. Kadaga chairs parliaments Appointments Committee that vets presidential appointees. I was in trouble with my party because they [NRM leadership] said that the speaker belongs to us, she must do what we want; but the speaker said, according to the Constitution this person is not qualified, so Im not going to do it, she said. One of Kadagas open run-ins with her party was on May 2, 2013 when she refused to oust from parliament four MPs that had been expelled by the ruling party. NRMs interpretation of their move was that the MPs must automatically leave their seats. But the speaker argued that this position was not backed by the constitution. The dispute has since gone to court. Kadaga is NRMs vice chairperson for eastern Uganda, and also sits on the partys top decision making organ; the Central Executive Committee (CEC).

Thread starter ByaseL
Start date Jun 3, 2014

ByaseL

JF-Expert Member

Jun 3, 2014

Bulesi

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Uganda Speaker reveals NRM frustration

ByaseL

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Bulesi

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