By Mulengera Reporters
As part of his presentation as the new MPs had day one of their orientation on Tuesday, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa (who already has five years of being a presiding officer) made it clear that under the Oboth Oboth-led Parliament, there won’t be favoritism and that all the MPs will be treated equally when it comes to speaking during plenary.
He made it clear that no MP will be disadvantaged, suffocated and denied chance to talk during plenary simply because the Speaker isn’t comfortable with him or her or generally hates them.
He reiterated Oboth’s Monday messaging at Kololo to the effect that every MP will be expected to read and understand the rules to be able to make informed submissions on the floor, regardless of party and other affiliations.
In otherwords, under the Oboth-led legislature it won’t be possible for the presiding officers to marginalize any legislator on the basis of personal vendetta.
But Tayebwa quickly and unequivocally clarified that there will be exceptional cases where some MPs will be treated in a special way and occasionally allowed more time to speak on the floor because of the unique understanding or knowledge they have over certain issues.
The Deputy Speaker immediately gave the example of Mwenge South MP Counsel Mary Kutesa Kamuli. He said that, given her unique exposure, knowledge and understanding of mega road infrastructure projects and how they are managed and executed, it will be hard for a presiding officer (himself or Oboth) to cut her short whenever she is called upon to submit on that topic.
He said it will be in order, and MPs should expect it, for the presiding officers to give priority to such MPs given the special knowledge they hold.
Mary Kutesa was the Director Legal Affairs at UNRA before becoming an MP and Tayebwa said that she has unique expertise in that area which he and his boss Oboth Oboth will from time to time be leveraging to enrich and guide debate in that direction.
Even when this is her first term as MP, Kutesa is clearly a rising star to the extent that recently when fellow MPs from Bunyoro and Toro felt they needed a voice in the Deputy Speaker’s race, it was her name that they fronted and this was shortly after Gen MK, the PLU big man and undeniably a growing king maker in Uganda, had indicated that the Deputy Speaker had to be a woman.
That colleagues would unanimously front her in her first term to represent the two sub regions on Deputy Speakership is indicative of the extent to which Mary Kutesa Kamuli is going to be one of the well credentialed figures in the 12th Parliament.
Yet she isn’t the only one Tayebwa made reference to when it comes to being an authority on a topic. The other was Gen Henry Tumukunde, the colossus from Rukungiri, whose views on security matters Tayebwa said the presiding officer will have to respectfully seek from time to time.
He said the same of Mbale City Woman MP Lydia Wanyoto. The Deputy Speaker made it clear that no MP should take offence and feel suffocated whenever any of the trio is permitted more time when submitting on the floor.(For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
