There has been tension during today’s plenary sitting when opposition Members of Parliament accused the State Minister for Water Resources Ronald Kibuule of smuggling a gun into the parliamentary chambers.
In the ensuing chaos Makindye East MP Allan Sewanyana, draped in a red bandana just like all his colleagues in the opposition, threw a chair at the government side, and then continued prodding Minister Kibuule.
If proved true, then Kibuule becomes the second MP accused of going to the parliamentary chambers with a gun, after Uganda Peoples Defence Forces MP General Elly Tumwine in 2002. At the time, fiery legislator Jacob Oulanyah, then an opposition politician representing Omoro County, engaged the General, prompting the latter to leave Parliament hurriedly after intervention by General Salim Saleh.
Meanwhile, today as Speaker Rebecca Kadaga entered into Parliament, she first ordered the opposition members to put off the bandanas donned on their heads.
“I know sometimes people enjoy colors, but let me call on members to remove their bandanas. It breaches Rule 73,” Kadaga said.
The opposition is against a private members bill sponsored by the Igara West legislator Raphael Magyezi, seeking the removal of presidential age limit cap of 75 years.
Opponents of the bill argue that the motion, once passed, will give a green light for President Yoweri Museveni, the Chairman of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party to contest for the presidency in 2021 when aged 77 years.
Meanwhile, during the heated session, the Speaker introduced eight bills that came in to her office but only three of them sifted through including the private members bill.
And, by press time live transmission of the chaotic proceedings had been blocked.
