Africa-Press – Uganda. Some Members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday had no kind words for their chief whips for posting to what some staff and veteran lawmakers called “unexciting committees.”
Trouble started after Government Chief Whip Thomas Tayebwa, Opposition whip John Baptist Nambeshe and the dean of independents, Mr Livingstone Zijjan, took to the floor to designate the 529 MPs to the 29 committees of the11th Parliament.
Mid-way the session chaired by Deputy Speaker Anita Among, a section of the lawmakers opposed their designation to various committees and demanded to be sent to those of their choice.
Some of the MPs who protested included Mr Muhammad Nsereko (Kampala Central), Ms Cecilia Ogwal (Dokolo Woman MP), Mr Michael Timuzigu (Kajara County) and Mr Gilbert Olanya (Aruu North MP).
They argued that their whips had appointed them to areas they where lacked competence and had not applied for.Ms Ogwal opposed her designation to the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline, saying it was contrary to what she had asked from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) whip, Mr Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda.
“I wrote to the FDC whip expressing my interest to be on the budget committee but I haven’t heard my name,” Ms Ogwal said.
Mr Nsereko also objected his designation to the Committee on Government Assurances, saying his choices were Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase), Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and Climate Change Committee. He told Parliament that taking him to a different committees denies him opportunity to put government to account.
“I should have been consulted [and] to be tossed around into a committee I had no choice over. So Right Hon Speaker, unless you are dragging me into this committee, you will find my service maybe not best suited in that nature,” Mr Nsereko said.
Kilak South MP Gilbert Olanya also rejected his appointment to the Committee on HIV/Aids, saying he lacked the necessary experience in the medical field.
“I don’t know why he (Ssemujju) is behaving in such a weird manner. For me, I have never been in such a committee. I am not a doctor. I have no guts of being on such a committee at all,” Mr Olanya said.
Mr Ssemujju, however, said: “I am the one who designated Hon Olanya to the committee of defence in the previous Parliament] for five years. Now I have changed him [and] I want him also to have an experience in fighting HIV/Aids.”
A section of independent MPs and National Resistance Movement (NRM) MPs also privately raised eyebrows on how they had been allocated to their respective committees.
But the deputy speaker recommended that the disgruntled legislators settle the matter with their respective whips.
