Lira Municipality MP Akena booed during debate on Constitutional Amendments
By Bill Oketch
Lira Municipality Member of Parliament Jimmy Akena Obote has today been booed and heckled at Uganda Technical College, Lira Town, as Lango Parliamentary Group sought views of the people on the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2017.
The government has introduced a proposal to amend Article 26 of the 1995 Constitution to facilitate faster land acquisition for public infrastructure.
The Amendment seeks to among other things provide for compulsory acquisition of private land by government without prior compensation of the owner.
The former LC5 councilor of Otuke District, Dina Bua, was overheard ordering that the microphone which Akena was using should be grabbed.
Ajuri County MP Denis Hamson Obua, however, enjoyed strong support from the audience throughout his two-hour presentation.
Obua received loud cheers and prolonged applause but the youth, politicians, religious and cultural leaders turned on Mr Akena, when he failed to defend the bill being marketed by his wife, Betty Amongi, the minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
