The confirmation of the first Coronavirus case in the country last month prompted President Museveni to issue a number of directives that should be followed to suppress the spreading of the virus in the population, and banning mass gatherings was one of them.
With Uganda having 426 Members of Parliament, a session where all of them attend a session would mount to a mass gathering but we all know not all MPs attend every session. Nevertheless, those that attend be in numbers exceeding the allowed 10, as per President Museveni’s directive.
The act of Parliament to still sit amidst the coronavirus pandemic his had several members of the public question why, as this could lead to the spreading of the virus, if any of the members or Parliamentary staff has the disease.
Today, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga has come out to defend the decision for Parliament to keep on meeting, saying that Parliament has obligations to fulfil for the country, or for government to keep operating.
One of these is receiving budget papers from different Ministries for the coming financial year, and handle any supplementary requests from government, just as they are currently handling the Shs304 billion supplementary budget for the fight of COVID in the country.
“I am hearing people complaining as to why Parliament is sitting amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. I don’t know how government would have laid the Budget, its Statutory Instruments or where it would present the supplementary requests, if Parliament were closed,” Kadaga wondered, adding that, “Government should advise itself of the obligations of Parliament to the country.”
Since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Parliament has put in place to safeguard the members and staff from getting infected, first by moving sessions from the Chambers to the spacious Parliament Conference Hall, and by putting hand sanitizers in almost every corner of the premises of Parliament, and downsizing on staff.
On March 12, 2020, Speaker Kadaga suspended Kilak North Constituency MP Anthony Akol on suspicion of carrying the deadly Coronavirus. Kadaga asked Akol to leave the Chambers after the legislator admitted to have travelled to South Korea and later to South Africa and on return he did not undergo any health screening.
The Speaker has since urged all MPs that returned to the country recently to go and get tested for COVID-19.