Africa-Press – Uganda. Government has extended the term of the current Local Council (LC) one and two leadership for another six months.
Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka made the communication yesterday while interfacing with the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee that is scrutinising concerns over the pending LC polls.
“Cabinet met [on Monday] and made a decision requesting Parliament to agree with the Executive to extend the term of the LCs for another six months, a development I have just reported to the committee and the [developments] will be brought by the minister of Local Government to the Speaker,” Mr Kiwanuka said.
He informed the committee that the logic behind extending the term of office of the LC leadership was based on giving the government the flexibility to look at a number of things surrounding the elections, including how to effectively conduct the polls.
“We have already lost a month. You need three-and-half months, rounding it off to four-and-half months in total. The additional month will be for addressing any errors. So, that was the rationale for the six months,” he said.
A statutory instrument will act retrospectively so that the period of LCs in office is legalised effective from July 10, 2023.
On the sidelines, the shadow Attorney General, Mr Wilfred Niwagaba (Ndorwa County West MP), said they would make an informed opinion after looking at the statutory instrument.
Regardless, government should not be wasting time with the elections, he said.
“The bottom line is that the government needs to stop dilly-dallying. It just needs to conduct these elections because the terms of office of the LC leadership have expired and we cannot extend these terms but can only renew them through elections,” Mr Niwagaba said.
The committee chairperson, Ms Robina Gurema Rwakoojo (Gomba West County MP), said Mr Kiwanuka’s update was helpful to the committee because of the numerous complaints that legislators have been receiving on the expired terms of LCs.
“We were wondering what the government position is because we have a situation which is a bit worrying. Upcountry people are asking us what we are supposed to do with the stamps. How do we assist people who need passports [and] students who need various documents? How are they supposed to intervene in land matters and all that?” Ms Rwakoojo said.
Mr Abdu Katuntu, the Bugweri County MP, said other ministers involved in the elections, including the minister of Finance, should also appear before the committee to address pertinent issues and not to leave the Attorney General carrying the burden alone.
On this, Ms Rwakoojo said they had officially written to other ministers to appear before the committee.
In fact, the State minister for Finance in-charge of General Duties, Mr Henry Musasizi, is invited to appear before the committee to address issues of funding for the elections today.
Speaking to Monitor, the Parliament’s director of communication and public affairs, Mr Chris Obore, said neither the Clerk to Parliament nor Speaker Anita Among had received any written communication from government over the developments.
“If the communication comes, the Speaker will convene a meeting of the Business Committee before an announcement is made when the sittings will resume,” Mr Obore said.
Ms Among was last week forced to suspend House sittings after the government failed to provide a detailed explanation on the LC polls after the term of office for the officials expired on July 10. Ms Among said she would not continue with such an illegality and would wait for a report from the government.
Tentative budget
Speaker Anita Among questioned the budget of Shs80 billion required by the Électoral Commission (EC) to organise the overdue LC and women council elections.
Of this money, the EC had budgeted for Shs54.5 billion purposely for the LC 1 and LC 2 elections.
To Speaker Among, it is not a realistic for the EC to plan to spend Shs54.5b on conducting an exercise where the candidates will be voted by the lining-up of their supporters.
“For us what we want is a realistic budget for the election of LC 1s because it is purely in the law that you lineup (behind a preferred candidate) and you don’t even need to pay agents. And as Parliament let us not be pushed into giving money anyhow because we are electing LC 1,” the Speaker said.
Source: Parliament
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