Gen. Aronda vetting date set

By Moses Walubiri

The Appointments Committee of parliament has set June 26 as the date to vet former army boss, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, in what promises to be a complicated process laced with legal implications.

One of the five army representatives in the ninth parliament, Aronda was last month appointed Internal Affairs Minister by president Yoweri Museveni in a snap cabinet reshuffle that also saw Rose Namayanja (Nakaseke) take the docket of information minister from Karooro Okurut.

The reshuffle that involved transfer of Permanent Secretaries saw Uganda’s former UN representative, Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, replace Christine Ondoa as minister of Health, Onek transferred to Disaster Preparedness, while Okurut headed to Gender, Labor and Social Development.


“He will be vetted on 26th,” Speaker of Parliament and chairperson of the Appointments Committee, Rebecca Kadaga, said when asked about the anticipated vetting process.

The Uganda People’s Defense Act, 2005 bars serving army officers from taking up political offices, with the eighth parliament setting a precedent with its rejection of Gen. Jeje Odong’s ministerial appointment until he had retired from the military.

Odong had been appointed State Minister for defense in 2009, but the Appointments Committee put its foot down, delaying his approval for a year until he had officially retired from active military service.

It was until after Odong had presented his army discharge certificate to the Appointments Committee that he was officially sworn in as minister and ex-officio of parliament.

“Why are you asking about that? So that you can speculate. Don’t ask more than that,” Kadaga said when asked how the Appointments Committee intends to handle Aronda’s case.

If the Odong precedent is to be applied, Aronda – a decorated bush war general – will have to call time on his military career and also lose his parliamentary seat as a UPDF representative.