But as they walk out, a number of them say that their term of office was a roller-coaster, punctuated with attacks, safety challenges and a virus that almost put the assembly to a halt. However, they say, having a firm and committed speaker of Parliament saved the day and helped them to ensure that the business of parliament continues, amidst the storm.
During the meeting, Jeremiah Keeya Mwanje, the Kasubi councillor, who read a statement on behalf of the 41 National Unity Platform-NUP councillors, said they are concerned about the wellbeing of cultural leaders.
The National Resistance Movement -NRM now directed the contenders reduce on the fire between the two main camps that is currently threatening to divide the party.
Rebecca Kadaga, the Kamuli Woman Member of Parliament has today launched her bid for a third term as Speaker of Parliament with at least 100 Members of Parliament backing her.
Out of the 23.6 billion Shillings, Auditor General John Muwanga notes nugatory expenditure in interest on delayed payments to contractors totaling 7.3 billion Shillings by the Uganda National Roads Authority- UNRA, and another 16.3 billion Shillings loss to the tax payer caused by a 60 months delay in the design review of Masaka-Bukakata road.
Oulanyah has not chaired any parliamentary session for over a year now. The Deputy Speaker and Kadaga, who is preparing for a contest for the Speaker’s job when the position falls vacant in May this year, have been conflicting over chairing the house since the 2016 speaker’s race, in which Oulanyah had sought to unseat Kadaga.
In their final report after the 2016 polls, the European Union Elections Observer Mission made 30 recommendations that needed to be given priority to improve Uganda's elections. They include granting the Electoral Commission sole regulatory power to regulate essential parts of the electoral process, including voter registration, polling, tallying and electoral dispute system prior and during the election.
Ruth Nankabirwa, whose role in Parliament is to ensure that all government activities are coordinated, used a social media message forwarded to several NRM groups to plead with the voters to elect people who sacrifice for the party, "but not the people who betray the party by working with the opposition."
The two leaders have had a bitter relationship since 2016 when Oulanyah sought to contest for the position of the Speaker of Parliament, currently occupied by Rebecca Kadaga. They have, on several occasions disagreed on who should chair plenary sittings and taking trips abroad.
She questioned why everyone is fixated with the allocation to parliament when money was equally appropriated to other sectors. She cited 15 billion Shillings to NAADs, 59 billion Shillings to the Office of the Prime Minister, 94 billion Shillings to Ministry of Health, 6 billion Shillings to the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology, 165 million for each of the districts, 55 million Shillings for each RDC and others for COVID-19 activities.
Earlier on, Kadaga told the legislators that they would process the budget for the 2020/2021 financial year budget electronically to reduce on committee sittings because of the corona pandemic.
However, a new later dated 9th January authored by Paul G Wabwire on behalf of the Clerk to Parliament indicates that commencement of plenary sitting has been rescheduled to Tuesday 21st January 2020.
Speaking about parliament’s performance this year, Kadaga expressed dismay that the Act she describes as landmark is yet to be assented to by the President.
According to Ntambi, central Uganda topped the number of beneficiaries under the disability scheme with 39% followed by Western and Eastern region with 29% and 21% respectively while Northern Uganda had a paltry 11% out of 308 students.
According to Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, a meeting with the Speaker of Parliament of Serbia Maja Gojković and the Serbian Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs discussed ways forward of improving cooperation and exchange between the two countries.
The conference, one of the largest annual gatherings of Commonwealth Parliamentarians, will take place from 22 to 29 September 2019 at Speke Resort, Munyonyo. It will bring together more than 500 delegates.
Kadaga expressed her disappointment to government for failure to avail a criteria and category of leaders who are entitled to lie in State and a Special Sitting after death.
President Yoweri Museveni has in his new State of the Nation Address listed the same government Bills for parliament to handle in the coming year as he did in his 2018 Address.
