The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, has sought assurance from the government that Murchison Falls will not be tampered with.
Kadaga, in her communication to the House on Tuesday, 18 June 2019 said that the waterfalls are a major tourist attraction.
“I want an early assurance from the government that Murchison Falls will not be tampered with. These falls are a part of the tourism in Uganda and removing them will threaten the tourism in Uganda. The citizens need an early assurance on this issue,” she said.
Early this month, different media reported that the Electricity Regulatory Authority had published an advert in showing that a private foreign company, Bonang Power and Energy was planning to set up a hydropower plant at the waterfalls. The independent power producer based in South Africa says it intends to build a 360Megawatt plant.
The Speaker is one of several people across the political divide that have opposed the construction of the power plant.
In her Communication from the Chair, Kadaga also requested the Prime Minister to whip his members of Cabinet.
“The Leader of Government Business should ensure that the Ministers or State Ministers endeavour to attend plenary and where none of them (the Ministers) cannot attend, they should assign another Minister to represent the Ministry’s interest accordingly,” she said.
She added that the Prime Minister should be able to table all the business, which he thinks is a priority before mid August to give time to Committees to consider them.
“We have the electoral reform Bills and we need an answer on that,” Kadaga said.
