Opposition storms out of House over political parties Bill

KAMPALA - The Opposition on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, stormed out of Parliament in protest, decrying what they described as a sham process.

The walkout occurred just moments before the second reading of the Private Member’s Bill, the Political Parties and Organisations (Amendment) Bill, 2025, tabled by Napak Woman MP Faith Nakut Loru (NRM).

This followed an objection by Leader of the Opposition (LOP) Joel Ssenyonyi, who criticised what he termed as the rushed handling of the Bill along with the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (Amendment) Bill 2025.

Arguing that it excluded several key stakeholders, including his party, from presenting their views.

Chipping in, Speaker Anita Annet Among explained that committee work is co-ordinated by the party whips, before turning to Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja for an explanation.

“Sometime back, I told you that I am one of the best-performing prime ministers. So, if I can produce work in such a short time, I want the Leader of Opposition to appreciate,” Nabbanja stated.

Her remarks, however, only infuriated Ssenyonyi, who suggested that the Prime Minister could be aloof about this whole discussion.

The walkout occurred just moments before the second reading of the Private Member’s Bill, the Political Parties and Organisations (Amendment) Bill, 2025, tabled by Napak Woman MP Faith Nakut Loru (NRM). (All Photos by Miriam Namutebi)

Nabbanja protested by storming the floor. In a heated exchange, the Leader of the Opposition dismissed the Prime Minister as 'excited,' adding that despite her longer tenure in Parliament, she seemed unfamiliar with the Rules of Procedure.

Committee chairperson

Stephen Bakka Mugabi, the chairperson of the legal and parliamentary affairs committee, said that although the rules allow the committee up to 45 days to process business, it is also within their mandate to conclude the work in less than that timeframe.

“If that work is presented within a week, you have not broken any rule. If the work is presented within a day, you should be thanked for being efficient, and that’s what we have done. The bill is ready, we considered it, and we are ready to report to the house,” Bakka explained.

"While that may be true, Ssenyonyi argued that the expedited process is only justified when all stakeholders are given a fair opportunity to be heard, which, he said, did not happen.

“I am a stakeholder; my political party received the invitation at 8:00pm, saying 'come at 9:00am'. We wrote to the committee, and they received the letter requesting that this be done on short notice; there was no magic we could do. We had requested for Monday at 9:00am," he argued.

To their surprise, Ssenyonyi said, the committee received their letter but never responded.

Over the weekend, he learned that the committee was drafting the report.

This, he said, was problematic, especially given that Parliament is meant to be people-centred and that the citizens must be given an opportunity to give their views regarding various legislations.

He accused Parliament of creating the impression that, regardless of public input, decisions had already been predetermined.

Leader of the Opposition (LOP) Joel Ssenyonyi before plenary today.

His remarks were in response to a late-night press briefing by Government Chief Whip David Hamson Obua, in which he stated that they had agreed to pass the bill as it was. Ssenyonyi expressed concern over the comment, saying he had hoped the Government would be willing to listen to stakeholders.

“I am very hard pressed, together with my colleagues, to sit here and participate in a sham process. I am calling it a sham process because it is pretentious. When you bring a bill here, you should give it time for people to have their input. But for you, you are saying we don’t want your input, we are going to pass the bill as it is, that’s why Speaker, you did not rein in the committee to give adequate time to stakeholders,” Ssenyonyi argued.

“That means this is pretentious and a sham for these two Bills: the UPDF Amendment Bill and the Political Parties Organisations Bill. So, Rt. Hon. Speaker, together with my colleagues, we are hard pressed to participate in this sham process,” he stormed out.

In response, Speaker Anita Annet Among, who was presiding over the plenary, simply wished him a blessed day.