NRM fronts Kadaga for House speaker
May 16, 2011
THE NRM caucus yesterday endorsed Kamuli Woman MP Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga for the coveted post of Speaker of Parliament, to replace her former boss and long-serving Speaker, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi.
By Cyprian Musoke
THE NRM caucus yesterday endorsed Kamuli Woman MP Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga for the coveted post of Speaker of Parliament, to replace her former boss and long-serving Speaker, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi.
According to sources who attended the meeting at the State House in Entebbe, Ssekandi stepped down “in the spirit of continued consensus in the National Resistance Movementâ€.
“Throughout the 13 years I have served as MP, I spent three as Speaker in the sixth Parliament, five in the seventh Parliament and one in the eighth. I am weary of a competitive process and I would rather the consensus we have built in the party continues.
“It is remarkable and I am grateful that I have been given a chance to serve at the helm of the third arm of government for this long.
“However, I still have stamina and I am ready for any other deployment that the appointing authority may bestow upon me,†Ssekandi said, in his step-down remarks.
Kadaga, who has served as Deputy Speaker for 10 years, will be tussling it out with Budadiri East MP Nathan Nandala Mafabi for the post when voting time comes on the floor of the House.
A source said Mafabi has been aggressively campaigning for the position, but with Ssekandi in mind as the opponent.
In a short statement, Kadaga accepted to serve with diligence. The elections will take place in Parliament on May 19.
The caucus included only members of NRM who returned to the House and new ones who will take oath today.
Through a secret ballot, the caucus also elected Omoro MP Jacob Oulanyah to contest for the post of Deputy speaker. Oulanyah beat his closest rival Peter Nyombi with 173 votes against 35.
Oulanyah stood against Wilfred Niwagaba (Ndorwa East), Peter Nyombi (Nakasongola) and initially Jim Muhwezi (Rujumbura) who later withdrew before the voting. Oulanya will tussle it out with the youthful opposition MP Odonga Otto (Aruu county) who has already declared interest.
Nyombi is one of the MPs, who were thrown out of Parliament by the Constitutional Court ruling which affected 70 others and has been in Parliament since 2006.
Fox Odoi (West Budama North), the former presidential advisor on legal affairs, who is a new entrant in Parliament, initially insisted that he had what it takes for the job.
Being an independent, Odoi was not allowed to attend the caucus.
It remains to be seen whether he will continue with his bid on the floor.
Who is Rebbecca Kadaga?
By Joyce Nyakato
Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga was born in Kamuli district on May 24 1956, she has been the deputy Speaker of Parliament since 2001. She has also been Kamuli district Woman MP since 1989.
Kadaga, who is known to be a hardworking politician, is respected among the opposition MPs, but they complain of her short temper.
During a session she was chairing in 2010, Kadaga suspended opposition MPS, Michael Ocula, Geoffrey Ekanya, Odonga Otto, Christine Baku and Beatrice Anywar for heckling her decision to postpone the tabling of a report on the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
In December 2010, Kadaga led the African regional Commonwealth Women Parliamentary delegation to Abuja, Nigeria to lobby for increased representation of women in the West Africa region. She is the president of Women members of parliament in Commonwealth countries in Africa.
On the international level, she spearheaded the lobbying for the Parliament of Uganda to host the next global parliamentary conference called the 126th Inter-Parliamentary Union scheduled to take place in March/April 2012.
Kadaga started out as a legal assistant with Obol Ochola and Company Advocates in Kampala in 1979. In 1984, she became the first female lawyer to set up her own law chambers in Uganda under the name Kadaga and Company Advocates.
She attended Namasagali College for her high school education.
Kadaga graduated with a law degree from Makerere University in 1978. She obtained the diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre in Kampala in 1979.
In 2000, she obtained a diploma in women’s law from the University of Zimbabwe. In 2003, she obtained a Master of Arts degree specialising in Women’s Law, also from the University of Zimbabwe.
Between 1984 and 1988, she was in private law practice. From 1989 until 1996, she served as the Woman MP for Kamuli district.
In 1996, she served as the Secretary General of the East African Women Parliamentarians Association.
Kadaga has also been the vice-chairperson of the appointments and business committee of Parliament.
Career profile
2001 to date: Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP
1999 - 2001: Minister for Parliamentary Affairs
1998: State minister of Communication and aviation 1998
1998: State Minister for Regional Co-operation
1986/89: President FIDA-Uganda
Jacob Oulanyah
Jacob Oulanyah, 46, is a renowned legal mind in the land. He taught law at Makerere University Faculty of Law before he plunged into the world of politics.
He plies his private trade with his partners in Oulanyah and Onoria Company Advocates. When he joined politics, Oulanyah represented Omoro County in the 7th Parliament (2001-2006). Then, he belonged to the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC).
In Parliament, Oulanyah chaired the legal and parliamentary committee.
In 2006-2007, he participated in the peacetalks between the LRA rebels and the Government, while in 2008, he chaired the team that probed the controversial sub-lease of Kisekka Market.
In 2009, Olulanyah lost his wife, Dorothy Nangwale, a child rights advocate. He has also been a member of the Uganda Wildlife Authority board, which is under probe.
Oulanyah was the guild speaker of Makerere University, where he was a student between 1992 to 1995.
THE NRM caucus yesterday endorsed Kamuli Woman MP Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga for the coveted post of Speaker of Parliament, to replace her former boss and long-serving Speaker, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi.
According to sources who attended the meeting at the State House in Entebbe, Ssekandi stepped down “in the spirit of continued consensus in the National Resistance Movementâ€.
“Throughout the 13 years I have served as MP, I spent three as Speaker in the sixth Parliament, five in the seventh Parliament and one in the eighth. I am weary of a competitive process and I would rather the consensus we have built in the party continues.
“It is remarkable and I am grateful that I have been given a chance to serve at the helm of the third arm of government for this long.
“However, I still have stamina and I am ready for any other deployment that the appointing authority may bestow upon me,†Ssekandi said, in his step-down remarks.
Kadaga, who has served as Deputy Speaker for 10 years, will be tussling it out with Budadiri East MP Nathan Nandala Mafabi for the post when voting time comes on the floor of the House.
A source said Mafabi has been aggressively campaigning for the position, but with Ssekandi in mind as the opponent.
In a short statement, Kadaga accepted to serve with diligence. The elections will take place in Parliament on May 19.
The caucus included only members of NRM who returned to the House and new ones who will take oath today.
Through a secret ballot, the caucus also elected Omoro MP Jacob Oulanyah to contest for the post of Deputy speaker. Oulanyah beat his closest rival Peter Nyombi with 173 votes against 35.
Oulanyah stood against Wilfred Niwagaba (Ndorwa East), Peter Nyombi (Nakasongola) and initially Jim Muhwezi (Rujumbura) who later withdrew before the voting. Oulanya will tussle it out with the youthful opposition MP Odonga Otto (Aruu county) who has already declared interest.
Nyombi is one of the MPs, who were thrown out of Parliament by the Constitutional Court ruling which affected 70 others and has been in Parliament since 2006.
Fox Odoi (West Budama North), the former presidential advisor on legal affairs, who is a new entrant in Parliament, initially insisted that he had what it takes for the job.
Being an independent, Odoi was not allowed to attend the caucus.
It remains to be seen whether he will continue with his bid on the floor.
Who is Rebbecca Kadaga?
By Joyce Nyakato
Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga was born in Kamuli district on May 24 1956, she has been the deputy Speaker of Parliament since 2001. She has also been Kamuli district Woman MP since 1989.
Kadaga, who is known to be a hardworking politician, is respected among the opposition MPs, but they complain of her short temper.
During a session she was chairing in 2010, Kadaga suspended opposition MPS, Michael Ocula, Geoffrey Ekanya, Odonga Otto, Christine Baku and Beatrice Anywar for heckling her decision to postpone the tabling of a report on the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
In December 2010, Kadaga led the African regional Commonwealth Women Parliamentary delegation to Abuja, Nigeria to lobby for increased representation of women in the West Africa region. She is the president of Women members of parliament in Commonwealth countries in Africa.
On the international level, she spearheaded the lobbying for the Parliament of Uganda to host the next global parliamentary conference called the 126th Inter-Parliamentary Union scheduled to take place in March/April 2012.
Kadaga started out as a legal assistant with Obol Ochola and Company Advocates in Kampala in 1979. In 1984, she became the first female lawyer to set up her own law chambers in Uganda under the name Kadaga and Company Advocates.
She attended Namasagali College for her high school education.
Kadaga graduated with a law degree from Makerere University in 1978. She obtained the diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre in Kampala in 1979.
In 2000, she obtained a diploma in women’s law from the University of Zimbabwe. In 2003, she obtained a Master of Arts degree specialising in Women’s Law, also from the University of Zimbabwe.
Between 1984 and 1988, she was in private law practice. From 1989 until 1996, she served as the Woman MP for Kamuli district.
In 1996, she served as the Secretary General of the East African Women Parliamentarians Association.
Kadaga has also been the vice-chairperson of the appointments and business committee of Parliament.
Career profile
Jacob Oulanyah
Jacob Oulanyah, 46, is a renowned legal mind in the land. He taught law at Makerere University Faculty of Law before he plunged into the world of politics.
He plies his private trade with his partners in Oulanyah and Onoria Company Advocates. When he joined politics, Oulanyah represented Omoro County in the 7th Parliament (2001-2006). Then, he belonged to the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC).
In Parliament, Oulanyah chaired the legal and parliamentary committee.
In 2006-2007, he participated in the peacetalks between the LRA rebels and the Government, while in 2008, he chaired the team that probed the controversial sub-lease of Kisekka Market.
In 2009, Olulanyah lost his wife, Dorothy Nangwale, a child rights advocate. He has also been a member of the Uganda Wildlife Authority board, which is under probe.
Oulanyah was the guild speaker of Makerere University, where he was a student between 1992 to 1995.