DP was consulted on Kiyingi appointment - Mao

Democratic Party (DP) president general, Nobert Mao was consulted by the government before appointing party member Nakiwala Kiyingi to Cabinet.

Addressing a news conference in Kampala on Tuesday a day after Kiyingi was named a state minister for youth and children affairs, Mao said he has advised Kiyingi to follow the party rules and regulations before joining Cabinet.

Kiyingi a former Buganda Government minister earlier on Tuesday said that her party had endorsed her appointment.

"Fellow DP members are congratulating me and even contributing some ideas. They are impressed," she said in an interview today on a local TV station.

"I am confident about where I am coming from and where I am going. God doesn't issue bouncing cheques. I am ready to serve. Wherever you are, you have a brick to add to Uganda, despite party loyalty, tribe, religion," she added.

"The inclusion of some members of opposition parties in the cabinet may appear to represent a spirit of inclusion. However to the adept and keen observers, the inclusion of people like Betty Amongi (UPC), Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi (DP) and Beti Kamya (UFA) in the cabinet is nothing but despicable tokenism and falls far short of any expectation Ugandans may have had that following a disputed election marred with unprecedented rigging and post-election brutality and continued repression, an inclusive government based on a consensus reached through a national dialogue process would follow In a dialogue process, the direction of the country would be negotiated," Mao said in statement.

He added: "We reject tokenism because it simply means trading a few crumbs for a fair share of the loaf of political power. As the Igbo of Nigeria say "No one gets a mouthful of food by picking between another person's teeth."