Kadaga: Jacob Oulanyah refused to chair Parliament several times, chose trips abroad

Speaker Rebecca Kadaga has accused her nemesis and deputy Jacob Oulanyah for choosing foreign trips instead of chairing parliamentary sessions.

Kadaga made the claim during the launch of her speaker reelection campaign at Speke Resort Munyonyo on March 24.

She seeks to retain the speaker position, the third topmost in the country’s political hierarchy after the president and vice president.

Kadaga is the incumbent speaker, after taking over from now 10-year-long vice president Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi in 2011.

Before becoming speaker, Kadaga was Speaker Ssekandi’s deputy.

In the race due in May 2021, Kadaga is facing her deputy Oulanyah, Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, and Democratic Party (DP) Bukoto Central MP-elect Richard Ssebamala.

Kadaga used the launch to attack Oulanyah.

Kadaga noted that Oulanyah had not chaired the House proceedings for over a year because he had chosen to go for trips abroad.

He detailed scenarios when he asked Oulanyah to chair but either chose to dodge his work or gave excuses, including of travel abroad.

Kadaga’s words on Oulanyah refusing to chair Parliament, choosing trips abroad

In 2019, we were hosting the East African parliamentary games and he doesn’t participate in those things. So, we are the ones hosting here but also parliament was going on.

So, I told him, ‘me, I am contributing on games, go and chair parliament; he dodged it. The same week, we were battling with the Sugar Bill. The president had called a meeting to discuss that bill. So, I said ‘you know the Sugar Bill’ is so [important] to me, I can’t stay in Kampala. Chair the house; he refused.

After that, he wrote to me, he said he is not well, he is going away. He went, the whole of December. After Christmas, I received a letter that he is going away again. I said ‘you man you have been out, where are you going?’ He took off I let him go. So, In January, I was supposed to go to Canada for a Speakers Meeting. He writes to me and says he is going to Germany for two months to meet business associations. I said the German Parliament and us have no relationship.

So I said let me do my job.