Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga (pictured) has said her job demands fairness and neutrality in dealing with leaders regardless of their political party inclinations.
In a talk show on Busoga One FM in Jinja, Kadaga said since the advent of multiparty politics in 2005, working with leaders from all political formations is inevitable.
“There are people who do not understand multiparty politics; it means many parties in Parliament. There’s JEEMA, DP, UPC and others. In our Commonwealth arrangement, you have to be balanced. There are also people from the traditional opposition who currently sit in Cabinet,” she said.
This was in response to claims by Government Chief Whip, Ruth Nankabirwa that Kadaga is serving opposition interests to the detriment of her party, the National Resistance Movement.
Kadaga was flanked by MPs Moses Walyomu (NRM, Kagoma County) and Nelson Lufafa (NRM, Butembe).
Kadaga said Parliament has delivered on its Constitutional mandate, saying in the line of appropriation, Parliament has passed the National Budget and has also approved loan requests to grant government the financial means to implement the manifesto.
“The 10th Parliament has passed several private members’ bills. We have also made Parliament get closer to the people and each year, we have the Parliament Week that opens our doors to the public to gain a better understanding of the Legislature,” she said.
“On the international front, we have marketed Uganda. The time I have been Speaker, we brought the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) which we last hosted after independence,” she said.
Kadaga also thanked NRM party Members for voting her back into the Central Executive Committee (CEC) as Second National Vice Chairperson.
In CEC, which is the party’s top decision making organ, Kadaga promised to articulate the concerns of party members and also advocate for the establishment of regional offices for the party.
On stalled protects in Busoga like promised roads, Kadaga said Parliament’s responsibility is to pass the budget, but implementation is the executive’s duty.
-Parliament
