By Madinah Tebajjukira and Catherine Bekunda

The opposition MPs, who were suspended from Parliament for three sittings by the deputy Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, over gross misconduct, have said they will not apologise.

“Why should our colleagues apologise? Instead, Kadaga owes us an apology for denying the opposition the constitutional mandate of representing their people,” Kampala Central MP Elias Lukwago said.

He said they would take the matter to court.
The MPs are Beatrice Anywar (Kitgum Woman), Christine Bako Abia (Arua Woman), Geofrey Ekanya (Tororo), Odonga Otto (Aruu) and Micheal Ocula (Kilak).

They did not show up at Parliament yesterday. Security was tight.
During a phone interview yesterday, Anywar said she would not apologise.

She accused Kadaga of being partisan when she refused them from expressing their views on electoral reforms, the constitutional amendment and the CHOGM report.

“Parliament is a hotspot for politics. If she can’t stand the heat, she should quit. We need balanced leaders to run this institution,” Anywar said.

However, Kadaga had said the matter was discussed and concluded in the morning session, but the MPs rejected her explanation.

Addressing a press conference at Parliament yesterday, opposition MPs, led by Forum for Democratic Change secretary general Alice Alaso, accused Kadaga of causing chaos in Parliament by allegedly locking the MPs out of the chambers.

Alaso said the suspension of the MPs was meant to intimidate the opposition from legislating ahead of the 011 general elections. “We have information that some other MPs have been earmarked for suspension,” she said.

Twenty-five opposition MPs attended.

The Government Chief Whip, Daudi Migereko, said the suspension was not planned by the NRM.

“What happened had not been anticipated. The NRM had no ulterior motive. The choice to suspend the five MPs was purely taken by the deputy Speaker,” Migereko said yesterday at the Media Centre in Kampala.

He explained that Ekanya breached the rules of Parliament when he insisted on talking when Kadaga had denied him the floor.

Migereko also insisted that he did not organise an NRM caucus meeting to block the CHOGM report from being tabled in Parliament.