Kivejinja to appear before MPs for vetting

Nov 25, 2015

VETERAN politician, Kirunda Kivejinja, is this morning facing lawmakers on the appointments committee as he seeks approval for his recent appointment as third deputy prime minister

By Moses Walubiri

 

VETERAN politician, Kirunda Kivejinja, is this morning facing lawmakers on the appointments committee as he seeks approval for his recent appointment as third deputy prime minister and minister for East African Community Affairs.

 

Under the constitution, any appointment made by the President has to be approved by parliament.

 

Other ministerial appointees to be approved include Bukedea Woman MP, Rose Akol (internal affairs) and Michael Werikhe (state for industry).

 

"Three ministerial appointees will be approved tomorrow (today) morning. That I can confirm," Chris Obore, parliament's spokesperson told New Vision yesterday.

 

If approved, Kivejinja will bounce back to cabinet after almost a five-year hiatus after he was dropped in May 2011. At 80 years, Kirunda is set to become one of the oldest cabinet ministers.

 

However, it remains to be seen whether the issue of his advanced age will be made an issue by lawmakers as the case was with second deputy premier, Henry Kajura.

 

During Kajura's vetting following his appointment as second deputy premier and minister of labour in 2011, youthful MPs on the appointments committee led by Masaka Municipality MP, Mathias Mpuuga unsuccessfully tried to block his approval, reasoning that the workload in the two dockets would overwhelm the 81-year old erstwhile governor of Bank of Uganda.

 

However, Kivejinja's approval, as the case was with Kajura, is expected to sail through the appointments committee without much ado since the committee chaired by Speaker of parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, is dominated by the ruling NRM. 

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