Before the Christmas break, the Speaker of Parliament had written to the Leader of Opposition, Betty Aol Ochan asking her to extend, the term of Bugweri MP, Abdul Katuntu as the Chair of the Committee of Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE).
The Speaker advised that this would help the Committee finalise well the investigation into how Bank of Uganda sold seven commercial banks including Crane Bank.
It is on record that the LoP who feigned ignorance of the Speaker’s letter said it was not her duty to renew terms of Committee Chairs and that the responsibility lies with the Opposition Chief Whip – Ibrahim Semujju Nganda.
According to Nganda, there’s no clause in the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure that allows anyone to extend the tenure of Committee Chairpersons adding that Katuntu would be the first MP in the history of Parliament to enjoy the privilege.
It is the above heckling within Uganda’s biggest opposition party that NRM MPs have pointed to as hindering Parliamentary work.
The MPs who have since expressed their loyalty for Abdu Katuntu and support for extension of his term till end of February 2019.
“The extension he (Mr Katuntu) requested for is not long. They (FDC) are only being ungrateful for the work he has done for both the party and Parliament,” Iganga MP, Peter Mugema told Daily Monitor.
Mbarara Municipality MP, Michael Tusiime also called out the FDC for bringing politics in Parliament work arguing that the Speaker’s guidance on the extention of Katuntu’s tenure is not politically motivated but driven to get a major investigation done well.
“I dislike the political undertone. When we are doing work, we do it as Parliament. If this work is going to be subdued by politics, then it is unfortunate,” he said.
FDC Kawempe South MP, Mubarak Munyagwa as Katuntu’s replacement – a choice that has left many Ugandans wondering whether the political ‘comedian’ will measure up to the shoes of the calm, collected yet no-nonsense Abdul Katuntu.