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Events promoter Balaam Barugahara and Kitgum Woman MP Lillian Aber are among the five new Cabinet nominees to be assessed today (Monday) to determine whether they are competent to carry out the work of a minister in the Government.

They were summoned to appear before the Appointments Committee of Parliament chaired by Speaker Anita Among, at 10:00am, according to Adolf Mwesige, the Clerk to Parliament.

Speaker Anita Among arriving at Parliament. (Photo by Edith Namayanja)

Before you can become minister, you must first be vetted by the Appointments Committee and if found competent, you take the oath of office before President Yoweri Museveni.

In a simultaneous reshuffle of the Cabinet and army late last Thursday (March 21), Museveni appointed Barugahara as the state minister for children and youth affairs, replacing Sarah Mateke, who was named the minister of state for defence and veteran affairs.

Balaam Barugahara. (Photo by Miriam Namutebi)

Barugahara also doubles as the Patriotic League of Uganda’s (PLU) vice chairperson of western region.

He was appointed along with his PLU colleague, Aber as the state minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees, replacing Esther Anyakun, who was moved to the ministry of gender as state minister for employment and industrial relations.

Aber is the PLU’s vice-chairperson for northern Uganda, although she has since her appointment as minister made a change to her X, formerly Twitter, bio by dropping that title.

Hon. Lilian Aber (left) and Hon. Phionah Nyamutoro arriving. (Photo by Edith Namayanja)

Hon. Florence Namboozo (Photo by Edith Namayanja)

Sironko Woman MP Florence Nambozo and former chief of defence forces Gen. Wilson Mbadi will also be vetted after they were nominated for the Karamoja affairs state minister and minister of state for trade, industry and co-operatives, respectively.

Gen. Wilson Mbadi (Photo by Edith Namayanja)

If they sail through, they will replace Agnes Nandutu and Harriet Ntabazi, respectively.

Also to be vetted is the now former Principal Private Secretary to President Yoweri Museveni and former MP Dr Kenneth Omona, who was replaced with Gloria Omaswa after being nominated as state minister in charge of Northern Uganda.

Kenneth Omona. (Photo by Edith Namayanja)

The committee proceedings are not open to the press and un­der the law, the Speaker shall within three work­ing days com­mu­ni­cate the de­ci­sion (of the com­mit­tee) on any per­son nom­i­nated by the Pres­i­dent for ap­point­ment in writ­ing to the Pres­i­dent.

Vetting done once

The vetting is done once within five years. Those who are new ministers and have never taken oath of office, will have to go through the vetting process.

However, the ones that were promoted from one level to another like Jacob Oboth-Oboth or transferred from one ministry to another like Esther Anyakun, will not be vetted again.

“Vetting is for establishing the competence that you can hold the office of a minister in the Republic of Uganda. Even the oath of office we took (in June 2021) was the oath of office of the minister; not the minister of state. So I have not been summoned for vetting,” Oboth, who is now a full minister of defence, told New Vision Online.

He was a junior minister in the same docket but was promoted after President Museveni dropped Vincent Ssempijja and appointed him senior presidential advisor.

Also dropped was the minister of Karamoja affairs Mary Kitutu, who was replaced by the state minister for minerals, Peter Lokeris.

Kitutu and Nandutu are deeply embroiled in a scandal in which they are accused of failure to deliver iron sheets and other supplies meant for the Karamoja sub-region to support the ongoing disarmament exercise and the diversion of some items to non-intended beneficiaries.