Kamuli District Woman Member of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, who has been Speaker of the dissolved 10th Parliament, yesterday said “it is undemocratic” for members of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) top organ to predetermine the party’s flag bearer for speakership.
Ms Kadaga was responding to journalists’ questions at the party’s electoral commission at Plot 10, Kyadondo Road, an upscale neighbourhood of Kampala, after expressing her interest to the party to retain the speakership job in the 11th Parliament.
The journalists had asked Ms Kadaga to explain why she subjected herself to a party organ (the NRM Central Executive Committee) she had previously pigeon-holed as “undemocratic.”
In response, Ms Kadaga yesterday repeated the attacks on CEC and threw a dagger, questioning why President Museveni goes back to the party after every five years and asks them what they can do and wondered why the party now wants to ring-fence the position of speaker.
“You don’t listen, you don’t listen. I said it would be undemocratic for CEC to sit five years early and say five years later so and so will be our speaker. Why don’t you do that for the President? Every five years, he comes back and says elections are here, what do we do?” she said.
“We cannot sit here even in my constituency in Kamuli, you cannot say in five years you will be our MP. When five years come, you must go back and subject yourself to them. It will be undemocratic for them [CEC members] to say [that nobody should contest for the position [of the speaker] since CEC already selected a candidate. You have selected! Are you selecting your cattle?”
Read more: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/kadaga-tells-cec-to-back-off-speaker-race-3407214
