Opposition MPs strategize for Kadaga

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Winifred Kiiza, has said they have developed a strategy for dealing with the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga.

Kadaga, who has had a relatively good relationship with the Opposition MPs and some were at the forefront of her campaign to retain Speakership following 2016 elections, suspended 25 MPs for misconduct last Wednesday, triggering dramatic scenes that left some members injured.

In the heat of the moment following their violent eviction, some Opposition MPs blamed Kadaga for the mess.

This followed a refusal by MPs opposed to the removal of Article 102(b) from the Constitution to leave the parliamentary chamber following their suspension from the House.

Kiiza, who led a few surviving Opposition legislators to withdraw from that day's sitting after the House had resumed business, told New Vision that "we still have a Speaker in that House though she has been dehumanized".

"We shall be working with her on a case by case basis because of course on that front she humiliated herself; not us. She has also gone into the record of those who are only working for the benefit of President Museveni; not for all Ugandans," Kiiza said.

The Kasese Woman MP added: "She is the vice chairman of National Resistance Movement (NRM) party but we had thought she was now beginning to be above party lines and beginning to be a Speaker of Ugandans. Time is the biggest asset that people should consider. Over time we have realized that even when she is in that chair, she is still the vice chairperson of NRM eastern Uganda."

Kadaga defends action

However, in an interview with Saturday Vision last weekend, Kadaga defended her action that day, saying there was an attempt to capture Parliament.

"A situation where the Prime Minister of this country is prevented from addressing the House until he gives up and the Parliament is unable to do work because some don't want that work that is the capture of Parliament. When I came in on Tuesday, you could see they did not want to work and they wanted us to stop work because they don't want it," Kadaga said.

The Speaker added: "If you reach a stage where some members decide what work will be done and what will not be done that is capture of Parliament. It was an attempt to execute a coup because if the Prime Minister of this country cannot speak that is a coup. If Parliament cannot do its work one day, two days, three days that is a coup. Therefore I had to deal with it."