Kivejinja fate in House hangs in balance
Feb 07, 2008
Parliament is back in business after a month’s break. The Government and the opposition are set to lock horns over the status of the Third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Information and National Guidance, Ali Kirunda Kivejinja.
By Barbara Among
Parliament is back in business after a month’s break. The Government and the opposition are set to lock horns over the status of the Third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Information and National Guidance, Ali Kirunda Kivejinja.
Kivejinja lost the Bugweri MP seat to FDC stalwart Abdu Katuntu, meaning the NRM old fogey resigned his position as an elected member of the House. This implies that even if he were to be retained in Parliament as an ex-officio member by virtue of his position as minister, he would neither vote nor sit on any committee, according to the parliamentary rules of procedure.
But even his position as ex-officio member is also at stake. Opposition MPs have vowed to challenge this status on grounds that President Yoweri Museveni has not formally notified the Speaker of the change. The Constitution and parliamentary rules of procedure specify that for one to sit in the House, he must have taken the Oath of Member of Parliament or Oath of Minister.
Opposition MPs argue that Kivejinja must take a new oath before he is re-admitted to the House because he was appointed minister on the basis of being an MP and took the oath of minister under that status. Accordingly, the appointing authority has to forward Kivejinja’s name to the parliamentary select committee on appointments after which he would be vetted and re-admitted to the House as an ex-officio with no right to vote.
Shadow Attorney General Erias Lukwago has reportedly raised the issue to the Attorney General, Khiddu Makubuya, the Clerk to Parliament, Aeneas Tandekwire and the NRM Chief Whip, Kabakumba Matsiko.
Tandekwire declined to comment on the matter while Parliament’s public relations manager Hellen Kawesa could only say: “I’m not aware of that yet.†The opposition seems to have caught NRM officials offguard. The Prime Minster, Prof. Apolo Nsibambi, sounded unsure of Kivejinja’s status in the House when The New Vision contacted him on phone.
“My suspicion is that he will come back as an ex-officio. Ex-officio and ministers take the same oath,†said Nsibambi. He, however, referred The New Vision to the Attorney General for a legal opinion. The Deputy Attorney General, Freddie Ruhindi, instead referred us to Kivejinja: “Ask him, I don’t know… these are things you need to find out from him; talk to him directly.â€
The Leader of Opposition in Parliament and also member of the select committee on appointments, Ogenga Latigo, said: “We will wait for him to come to Parliament and then seek a ruling from the Speaker, because there is no precedent by which it goes.â€
“The question is, do you carry the old position in the new status, we don’t object to his ministerial position but the President needs to inform us of his new status.â€
Ben Wacha (Independent), a member of the parliamentary committee on rules and privileges, says any member could rise up during plenary and argue that there is a stranger in the House in case Kivejinja appeared there.
“There is no direct legislation in place but it’s a procedure which must be followed and he must take oath,†says Wacha. “He lost his seat, I would expect the President to re-appoint him and he takes an oath as an ex-officio,†he adds. MP John Kawanga (DP) suggested that the better alternative is for the appointing authority to write to the Speaker informing him that the Government would like Kivejinja to continue participating in the House as an ex-officio member.
“This is tricky because he has been in Parliament. He has already taken the oath, so it is up to the appointing authority if he wants him to continue as minister in Parliament to write to the Speaker,†Kawanga said.
NRM MPs, however, argue that Kivejinja does not lose his portfolio of a minister because he lost his seat. “Losing his seat does not mean he would lose his cabinet position. He is still a minister and can go to Parliament as a minister,†says Peter Nyombi (NRM).
Other MPs argue that Kivejinja’s participation in parliament without any clarification of his status would imply that Bugweri has two MPs since both Katuntu and Kivejinja would be participating as representatives of that constituency.
“We can’t have two members from the same constituency in the House,†says Sam Njuba (FDC).
Katuntu, 42, defeated Kivejinja – whose stronghold on Busoga and national politics spans more than two decades – with 14,704 against 12,824, in spite of Museveni’s backing. The NRM is still trying to undo the upshot by dragging Katuntu to court, claiming the elections were rigged. Katuntu was sworn in as MP in December. The ruling NRM has 211 MPs and FDC 39.
Parliament is back in business after a month’s break. The Government and the opposition are set to lock horns over the status of the Third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Information and National Guidance, Ali Kirunda Kivejinja.
Kivejinja lost the Bugweri MP seat to FDC stalwart Abdu Katuntu, meaning the NRM old fogey resigned his position as an elected member of the House. This implies that even if he were to be retained in Parliament as an ex-officio member by virtue of his position as minister, he would neither vote nor sit on any committee, according to the parliamentary rules of procedure.
But even his position as ex-officio member is also at stake. Opposition MPs have vowed to challenge this status on grounds that President Yoweri Museveni has not formally notified the Speaker of the change. The Constitution and parliamentary rules of procedure specify that for one to sit in the House, he must have taken the Oath of Member of Parliament or Oath of Minister.
Opposition MPs argue that Kivejinja must take a new oath before he is re-admitted to the House because he was appointed minister on the basis of being an MP and took the oath of minister under that status. Accordingly, the appointing authority has to forward Kivejinja’s name to the parliamentary select committee on appointments after which he would be vetted and re-admitted to the House as an ex-officio with no right to vote.
Shadow Attorney General Erias Lukwago has reportedly raised the issue to the Attorney General, Khiddu Makubuya, the Clerk to Parliament, Aeneas Tandekwire and the NRM Chief Whip, Kabakumba Matsiko.
Tandekwire declined to comment on the matter while Parliament’s public relations manager Hellen Kawesa could only say: “I’m not aware of that yet.†The opposition seems to have caught NRM officials offguard. The Prime Minster, Prof. Apolo Nsibambi, sounded unsure of Kivejinja’s status in the House when The New Vision contacted him on phone.
“My suspicion is that he will come back as an ex-officio. Ex-officio and ministers take the same oath,†said Nsibambi. He, however, referred The New Vision to the Attorney General for a legal opinion. The Deputy Attorney General, Freddie Ruhindi, instead referred us to Kivejinja: “Ask him, I don’t know… these are things you need to find out from him; talk to him directly.â€
The Leader of Opposition in Parliament and also member of the select committee on appointments, Ogenga Latigo, said: “We will wait for him to come to Parliament and then seek a ruling from the Speaker, because there is no precedent by which it goes.â€
“The question is, do you carry the old position in the new status, we don’t object to his ministerial position but the President needs to inform us of his new status.â€
Ben Wacha (Independent), a member of the parliamentary committee on rules and privileges, says any member could rise up during plenary and argue that there is a stranger in the House in case Kivejinja appeared there.
“There is no direct legislation in place but it’s a procedure which must be followed and he must take oath,†says Wacha. “He lost his seat, I would expect the President to re-appoint him and he takes an oath as an ex-officio,†he adds. MP John Kawanga (DP) suggested that the better alternative is for the appointing authority to write to the Speaker informing him that the Government would like Kivejinja to continue participating in the House as an ex-officio member.
“This is tricky because he has been in Parliament. He has already taken the oath, so it is up to the appointing authority if he wants him to continue as minister in Parliament to write to the Speaker,†Kawanga said.
NRM MPs, however, argue that Kivejinja does not lose his portfolio of a minister because he lost his seat. “Losing his seat does not mean he would lose his cabinet position. He is still a minister and can go to Parliament as a minister,†says Peter Nyombi (NRM).
Other MPs argue that Kivejinja’s participation in parliament without any clarification of his status would imply that Bugweri has two MPs since both Katuntu and Kivejinja would be participating as representatives of that constituency.
“We can’t have two members from the same constituency in the House,†says Sam Njuba (FDC).
Katuntu, 42, defeated Kivejinja – whose stronghold on Busoga and national politics spans more than two decades – with 14,704 against 12,824, in spite of Museveni’s backing. The NRM is still trying to undo the upshot by dragging Katuntu to court, claiming the elections were rigged. Katuntu was sworn in as MP in December. The ruling NRM has 211 MPs and FDC 39.