Updates on the Uganda Parliament

Rt. Hon. Anitah Among 

This is an update from the Parliament of Uganda marking the 5th Sitting of the 1st Meeting of the 3rd Session of the 11th Parliament. This Sitting was chaired by the Speaker Rt. Hon. Anita Among. In her communication, the Speaker informed the members that the Parliamentary Business Committee has approved the parliamentary calendar for the 3rd Session of the 11th Parliament. She added that the Clerk to Parliament will soon circulate it to the Members. According to Speaker Anitah Among, one of the resolutions of the Business Committee that sat on 23rd June 2023, is to ensure that all committee chairpersons and their deputies attend plenary at all times. Hon. Elijah Mushemeza was appointed as a whip to ensure their attendance. The Speaker also led Parliament in paying tribute to the six people killed in Masaka over the weekend and asked Government to come up with a decisive action to protect the lives of people in Masaka and Uganda at large. “We have had a resurgence of murders in Masaka, where at least six lives have been lost in a single family. There is a need for decisive and deterrent action by the relevant authorities so as to restore safety and confidence among our people in Masaka and not only Masaka but there was also an issue in Kayunga”. Among said. In a similar way, Speaker Anitah Among urged the public to continue observing the Standard Operating Procedures put in place to fight Covid-19, saying the virus is still in public and some MPs are victims. “Covid is back, most people here have Covid around, so you need to be very careful”.

Reacting to the Speaker’s Communication, Hon. Evans Kanyike (MP, Bukoto East) said the community in Masaka is living in panic and urged the government to increase security deployment. Hon Ssewungu Joseph (MP, Kalungu West County, Kalungu, NUP) on his part noted that “The issue of rampant death must be given adequate attention”. Hon. Abed Bwanika (MP Kimanya-Kabonera) also noted “The issue of the capacity of the security and police in Masaka is serious. In the division where I come from, Kimanya Kabonera, we have zero patrol vehicles, and it is a whole division”. Minister of Security, Jim Muhwezi said the removal of some police posts doesn’t mean the withdrawal of police officers. “But where security personnel are few, it will be looked into…I want to assure you that security is guaranteed”. the Minister added

Hon Ssewungu Joseph

The House then moved on to reconsider the National Sports Bill, 2023 as returned by the President on 17th May 2023. The Bill was passed on 2nd March 2023. It should be noted that the President returned the National Sports Bill on grounds of the need for proper Board representation, sports federations, and management of public sports facilities. The President said there is a need to have a small Board that will not put a financial strain on Government resources. The National Sports Bill, 2023 was later passed with amendments putting into consideration grey areas as raised by H.E. the President.

The House also considered a number of tax bills intended to operationalise Islamic Banking services in the country. Among them include; the Financial Institutions (Amendment) Bill 2023; Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2023; Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2023; the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The Income Tax (Amendment) (No.2) Bill, 2023 was stood over to allow the Minister of Finance and Finance Committee to harmonise some of the clauses. The Bill will be considered on Thursday.

Members of Parliament in session.