The lawyer who secured an order blocking parliament from discussing the oil cash bonuses has apologized to the speaker of parliament, Rebecca Kadaga. Alex Candia told journalists at the parliament on Wednesday afternoon, where he had come to meet the speaker, that he didn't know the implications the order would have on the activities of parliament and government business.
On Tuesday, Kadaga suspended the house until the Attorney General moves to the constitutional court to vacate “the stupid order.” "I cannot accept a situation where a court dictates on how we shall speak in this House, on how we shall write the order paper... that is unacceptable. So honorable members, I want to direct the Attorney General to move to court immediately and get this 'stupid' court order vacated,” Kadaga said.
The speaker's outburst came a day after Candia filed an application before the Deputy Chief, Justice Steven Kavuma on behalf of Eric Sabbitti seeking orders to stop parliament from discussing the cash bonanza, in which 42 government officials shared Shillings 6 billion for helping Uganda to secure USD 400 million (1.4 trillion Shillings) in capital gains tax resulting from the transaction between Heritage and Tullow Oil.
This afternoon, Candia stormed to parliament to apologise to the speaker but she was away. He instead met MPs Elijah Okupa and Anita Among, who drafted part of the oil cash bonus motion. He apologised to the speaker in absentia over the consequences of the order.
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He however, insisted that his apology doesn't mean that the order is unlawful.
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On his part Okupa, said it is good Candia has realized the implication of the order, saying they are only waiting for court to quash it before parliament resumes business.
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URN tried in vain to reach Attorney General to establish how much he has gone with implementing the directive from the speaker. However, a legislator told URN on condition of anonymity that the Attorney General has embarked on the process to have the order quashed.
Olive Eyotaru
Freelancer
