Why Tayebwa wants ministers barred from excluding local MPs at project launches
Tayebwa also expressed hope that the Minister for Local Government, Balaam Barugahara, and his deputy, Justin Nameere, would liaise with MPs during their forthcoming nationwide tour.
Tayebwa said the proposal was prompted by repeated complaints from legislators that political opponents, often working alongside government officials, were using project launches to undermine incumbent MPs.
KAMPALA - Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa has urged the Government to bar ministers from launching projects in constituencies without first informing the area Members of Parliament (MPs).
Tayebwa made the call while officiating at the closing ceremony of a five-day induction programme for legislators at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
“Government chief whip (Dr Ruth Aceng), one request I will make to you and the Prime Minister (Robinah Nabbanja), and we are going to be harder on this request. No Minister should visit a constituency without informing a Member of Parliament. There is no Government programme that should be taken to a constituency without informing the Members of Parliament, because that money you take on ground is appropriated by these people,” he implored.
Tayebwa said the proposal was prompted by repeated complaints from legislators that political opponents, often working alongside government officials, were using project launches to undermine incumbent MPs.
He added: “You know in the village, when you declare standing for an MP, they call you Honourable right away…So, if this one (incumbent) is not present, this honourable (aspirant) will be. I think we shall ensure that we fight for our space as members. If you have cases where that is being done, please inform the Government Chief Whip and us so that she can link up with the Prime Minister and the responsible Minister and we do the good work.”
Tayebwa also expressed hope that the Minister for Local Government, Balaam Barugahara, and his deputy, Justin Nameere, would liaise with MPs during their forthcoming nationwide tour.
Speakers not spared
Tayebwa's remarks come against the backdrop of growing complaints by some legislators that senior parliamentary leaders have also used their influence to undermine elected MPs politically.
One such case involves former Busiki South MP David Akamba, who, during an interview with New Vision two months ago, publicly accused former Speaker Anita Annet Among of orchestrating his political downfall, which saw him lose his parliamentary seat after a single term.
Akamba claimed the fallout stemmed from the successive speakership elections of 2021 and 2023, during which he and Among allegedly backed different candidates.
“After that Kadaga campaign, you know what happened, and then when Hon. Oulanyah passed on, I am the one who went to nominate Honourable Oboth at Kyadondo to contest against her. She took it so personal that from that time it has been so bad that she could not even see me on the floor,” he alleged.
He further claimed: “She must have spent over a billion on me in the constituency. She financed my opponent heavily, influenced security. She was always saying that is a Kadaga boy…In the primaries, I won and was declared. Then she made a call that that fool can’t be declared. I had to petition the national chairman of the party, and I went on to reclaim my flag. She fought me, put in money and called all security agencies to work against me.”