Parliament has to date still not held a special sitting to pay tribute to the late Fr Simon Lokodo, the former Ethics, and Integrity minister and Dodoth West County legislator.
Questions remain looming among the masses questioning why the House has not honored the former minister and MP who stood out for his fight against morality in society yet sittings have previously been held to honor individuals who did not serve as legislators.
According to facts unearthed and filed by the Daily Monitor newspaper, the decision to honor someone in Parliament is a reserve of the Government and not the Parliament itself.
This was noted by the Parliament director of Communications, Chris Obore.
“The decision on who is honored in Parliament and is a non-member is a decision by the government and not parliament,” Obore disclosed to the mentioned paper.
Currently, the rules of the House stipulate that a body brought to the House has to be one of the sitting legislators.
“As of now, I have not yet consulted to know the issue of Fr Lokodo about what decision the government has taken. As to whether a motion will later be brought up, it’s too early for me to speculate. Sometimes, the government may decide to bring a motion later,” Obore added.
According to the Parliamentary rules of procedure, subject to the provisions of Rule 57, no motion shall be moved unless the member moving it has given written notice of the motion to the Speaker and the Clerk not less than three days to the sitting at which it is intended to move the notion.
At the time of Fr. Lokodo’s death, he was serving as one of the commissioners for the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC0 following an appointment by President Museveni. He took the oath of office in September 2021.
Our efforts to reach Dr Chris Baryomunsi, the minister for ICT and National Guidance, on the matter were futile as he did not answer our calls.
However, according to some legislators, the House has already notified them that there is a sitting for the deceased this week.
“I personally received communication from the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, that they have reserved a special sitting for the late this Tuesday (tomorrow),” Remigio Achia, the chairperson of the Karamoja Parliamentary Group noted.
At a Requiem Mass at Christ the King Church on February 8, Achia told mourners that Fr Lokodo suffered from septic shock and cardiac arrest while on national duty in Geneva, Switzerland.
He had been sent by the UHRC to review Uganda’s human rights status. The fallen legislator had also tested positive for Covid-19.