The Speaker of Uganda’s Parliament Rebecca Kadaga is furious over the alleged invasion of Parliament by the army.
“I issued security guideline; I said only Parliamentary Police should be securing this place. Any other deployment must be communicated to my office. In the course of the recess, I also received complaints that there were people in Anglican chaplaincy… So I want to know who are those people there? I want an explanation who they are. I told you I want peace; if they are Parliamentary Police, why should there be plates,” Kadaga said.
She made the remarks this afternoon during a session in which Parliament was debating the Legal Committee report on the Constitution Amendment (NO2) Bill 2017 that seeks to repeal article 102 (b) of the 1995 Constitution by removing the upper and lower age limits for candidates standing for President.
“I want an explanation who was in those two chaplaincies? (Anglican and Catholic). I want to know before we proceed,” she said.
She was asking Gen. Jeje Odong, the Internal Affairs Minister and Lt Gen. Henry Tumukunde, the Security Minister to explain.
In response, Odong said: “It is true it was reported that there were unknown individuals in the precepts of parliament. When we broke for the lunch break, I asked sergeant at arms who keeps keys to Chapel. The keys are kept by the leadership of the fait. I also went to verify were there people other than the authorized Police men; There were Police men eating but not in the Chapel. Indeed, there were utensils that had been used by the Police men but the utensils were in the corridors, not in the chapel. So it isn’t true that the chapel was used as eating place.”
However, Buyaga West MP Barnabas Tinkasimire Tinkansimiire, who led the gathering f evidence said: We picked hundreds of plates and cups when we reached; We were intercepted, but we overpowered the Police men.”
This was after Lucy Akello, the Amuru Woman MP that soldiers had invaded Parliament’s Catholic Chapel.
“Why are soldiers invading our places of worship? I am not happy with what is happening. Why do we pretend?” the lawmaker asked.
Kadaga suspended the House to briefly investigate the matter.
Tumukunde said the keys to the rooms of worship are kept by respective members.
“If we say there are strangers that accessed [the Chapels], the people who keep the keys must explain,” he said.
“It is unfortunate that the matter happened here. If they were living here, that’s dangerous. Let me direct the clerk to give us a report on the custody of the keys,” Kadaga said.
