Tumwebaze summoned over contempt of Parliament

The Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga on Friday ordered the Rules Committee to summon ICT Minister Frank Tumwebaze for contempt over the deadline for SIM Card registration.

This was after Tumwebaze defied a Parliamentary motion seeking to have the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) extend the deadline for SIM card registration for not more than one year.

A visibly irritated Kadaga lashed out at Government on Friday evening shortly after Parliament had paid tribute to the late Boniface Byanyima. Kadaga said the Executive has disrespected the voices of the people which she said was unacceptable and would not go unchallenged.

"Ever since the issue of registration started, the Minister has not had the courtesy to reach the House. He has not even understood, not even heard the difficulties the people of this coun­try through their elected representatives," said Kadaga.

Kadaga questioned why the Executive failed to challenge the motion while it was still in Parliament and sat through until it was passed.

"This was a substantive motion, it was on the order paper if the Executive had any reservations on this matter even after the resolution was made, the Minister should have had the cour­tesy of coming and presenting a state­ment of objection to this House," Kadaga further said.

Kenneth Ongalo, the Kalaki County Member of Parliament who also chairs the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline told New Vision they would summon the Minister to explain why he defied Parliament.

"We will definitely call him to appear and answer since the Speaker has made a directive," Ongalo said.

Tumwebaze today told New Vision that the position he communicated was not his personal decision but the position of government. He however noted that, "If summoned, I will explain the position of government and it's justification," Tumwebaze said.

Shortly after Tumwebaze addressed the media on Friday, President Yoweri Museveni in a tweet supported the SIM card registration and dead stating, "I support efforts of authorities to register SIM cards and urge all to adhere to the deadline. It's a critical step in the fight against crime."

On Thursday, Parliament adopted a mo­tion pre­sented by the Leader of Opposition, Winnie Kiiza, to urge government to extend the deadline to a period not more than one year.

Parliament also directed Tumwebaze to present a status report on the registration and validation of all cards. It also tasked the Minister of Security with issuing specific regulations for the exercise.

Tumwebaze insisted that the Executive respects the parliamentary resolution but that the Government deadline had to be met especially after it has been extended for an additional one month.