Corridors of power
Sep 25, 2008
<b>Cheeky Kasamba</b><br>KAKUTO MP Mathias Kasamba is a tactful man. He knows how to punish his peers indirectly. On Wednesday, the defence committee which he chairs did not start on time because there was no quorum.
Cheeky Kasamba
KAKUTO MP Mathias Kasamba is a tactful man. He knows how to punish his peers indirectly. On Wednesday, the defence committee which he chairs did not start on time because there was no quorum. Kasamba decided to punish them in a cheeky way. He mobilised officials from the Law Advocacy for Women in Uganda who had appeared to make presentations on the Prevention of Trafficking Persons Bill, to clap for every MP who entered. The trick worked very well and Milton Muwuma (Kigulu) even apologised. “I am really sorry for coming late, I promise next time I will be here before anybody else,†he said.
‘Clod’ water
Owino market boss Godfrey Kayongo will live to tell his grandchildren the day he appeared in Parliament. He sweated when the MPs on the select committee probing the conduct of the Police asked him to make his submission on the arrest of a Kampala MP in English. Kayongo, who thought he would testify in Luganda, tried valiantly to speak English. On several accusations, the committee chairman, Peter Nyombi, had to interpret the questions for him. At the end of the proceedings, poor Kayongo was thirsty. “Chairman, I need to take some clod water. It was indeed tiresome,†Kayondo said, throwing MPs into laughter. One MP advised him to embrace adult education.
Police defended
Mwenge North MP Tom Butime is irked by some reports that the police is corrupt. If he had powers, he would have arrested anybody who says so. He believes that it is a few individuals who are corrupt and not the institution. He expressed his disagreement before a committee on presidential affairs when one MP made the observation. “Excuse me, chairman. You leave such a remark from the honourable MP hanging like that? Some elements in police are corrupt but not the whole institution. If it was, it would have been disbanded. That statement should be corrected,†he said.
Otafiire’s sympathy
Local government minister Major General Kahinda Otafiire has sympathy for the foundation for human rights initiative boss, Dr. Livingstone Ssewanya. The minister believes that Ssewanya is doing a very difficult job which other Ugandans cannot take up and probably needs some assistance. “He is doing a difficult job in a country where we have peasants in suits. There are few people in Uganda who are middle class but whenever Ssewanyana talks of human rights, people do not understand what he is talking about,†Otafiire said.
KAKUTO MP Mathias Kasamba is a tactful man. He knows how to punish his peers indirectly. On Wednesday, the defence committee which he chairs did not start on time because there was no quorum. Kasamba decided to punish them in a cheeky way. He mobilised officials from the Law Advocacy for Women in Uganda who had appeared to make presentations on the Prevention of Trafficking Persons Bill, to clap for every MP who entered. The trick worked very well and Milton Muwuma (Kigulu) even apologised. “I am really sorry for coming late, I promise next time I will be here before anybody else,†he said.
‘Clod’ water
Owino market boss Godfrey Kayongo will live to tell his grandchildren the day he appeared in Parliament. He sweated when the MPs on the select committee probing the conduct of the Police asked him to make his submission on the arrest of a Kampala MP in English. Kayongo, who thought he would testify in Luganda, tried valiantly to speak English. On several accusations, the committee chairman, Peter Nyombi, had to interpret the questions for him. At the end of the proceedings, poor Kayongo was thirsty. “Chairman, I need to take some clod water. It was indeed tiresome,†Kayondo said, throwing MPs into laughter. One MP advised him to embrace adult education.
Police defended
Mwenge North MP Tom Butime is irked by some reports that the police is corrupt. If he had powers, he would have arrested anybody who says so. He believes that it is a few individuals who are corrupt and not the institution. He expressed his disagreement before a committee on presidential affairs when one MP made the observation. “Excuse me, chairman. You leave such a remark from the honourable MP hanging like that? Some elements in police are corrupt but not the whole institution. If it was, it would have been disbanded. That statement should be corrected,†he said.
Otafiire’s sympathy
Local government minister Major General Kahinda Otafiire has sympathy for the foundation for human rights initiative boss, Dr. Livingstone Ssewanya. The minister believes that Ssewanya is doing a very difficult job which other Ugandans cannot take up and probably needs some assistance. “He is doing a difficult job in a country where we have peasants in suits. There are few people in Uganda who are middle class but whenever Ssewanyana talks of human rights, people do not understand what he is talking about,†Otafiire said.