By Mulengera Reporters
Speaker Rebecca Kadaga has welcomed proposals to create the 2nd chamber of Parliament (called Senate) which can scrutnize and fine-tune laws passed by the ordinary legislators we currently have in our Parliament. One will be lower and the other uppper chamber of Parliament. The proposal was formally presented by ex-Premier Amama Mbabazi while presenting a paper at the dinner Kadaga organized for the 9th Parliament (2011-2016) MPs. The event was initiated by ex-Tororo Municipality MP Sanjay Tana who says those former MPs have alot of expertise from which Uganda can benefit. The dinner was at Imperial Royale where Mbabazi’s proposal was supported by many including Kadaga and Museveni cheerleader James Kakooza.JPAM said he first proposed this during the CA but his views were rejected on grounds it would be costly yet now at close to 500 MPs, the current Parliament (heavily hated by citizens) is way more expensive than JPAM’s proposal would have been. Mbabazi, who is rumored to be in talks to return to government, said creating upper chamber of the house would give a formal platform through which senior citizens can contribute to political and social transformation of Uganda. However, there are many reasons why Museveni is unlikely to endorse this move. One is that his relationship with Kadaga has lately not been very excellent following her two letters condemning his SFC for committing acts of torture on MPs both in Arua and Parliament last December during the Togikwatako craze. It’s even worse that it’s his other adversary Amama Mbabazi originating the proposal backed by Kadaga and Justice Ogoola whose independent-mindedness State House officials have never been comfortable with. Mbabazi said even if their proposal, similar to what happens already in countries like Kenya, is rejected they are ready to form themselves into a think tank that will seek to influence opinion from time to time. He says it’s also an opportunity to prove that people can differ politically but agree on things that concern Uganda’s prosperity. However, some former MPs trivialized the evening by begging Kadaga to tell Museveni that they are broke and have no jobs meaning he should find for them something to do to make ends meet. This is very ironical in a country where young graduates are always mockingly told to use their newly acquired skills to create jobs for themselves.
