The Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Winnie Kizza has said the address on security by President Yoweri Museveni was a history lesson to legislators and not anything on safety of the country.
Ms Kizza was answering questions from the Journalists and public in a live Twitter chat held at Parliament today. She also rated the performance of the tenth parliament at the end of the second session.
She talked about several issues among which she gave her verdict on the President’s state of security address in the country.
Yesterday, President Museveni addressed parliament on the state of security in the country in which he talked about preventing crime by illuminating helmets, installation of cameras and introducing of electronic number plates at the expense of the owners among others.
“For the Security address, the President didn’t speak current security situations. It was like a sensitization to parliament which he didn’t even let us to debate about. I’m sure no Uganda wanted to hear his Bachwezi stories and all his history lessons.” She said.
Adding “An ordinary Ugandan expected President Museveni to talk about Kaweesi assassination and Abiriga murder but he did not mention about any of them.
She said Money will be needed for expertise to illuminate helmets for boda-boda riders and the tracking system for vehicles. “When we asked the president for funds for cameras to track criminals, he said government will get money. We are waiting now.
Museveni’s security measures were not feasible. They include long-term processes that have not been provided in the Budget and may cause budget implcations.” The LoP said.
On the issue of the Age Limit Bill, Kiiza said they have not yet come to terms with the amendment of article 102 (b) to remove the presidential age limit.
She said the Age Limit was only going to benefit one person and that is President Museveni because he was the only one above the age.
She concluded on the issue saying the matter is in court and they are eagerly waiting for the constitutional court to make its ruling but they remain positive.
On the vetting process of people sent by the president to be approved by parliament, Kizza said that the appointments committee has 30 members and there only five members of opposition which makes it hard for decisions to go on the opposition side. “Opening it to the public would be a good step”.
Concerning the issues of the presidential handshake, LOP said that as opposition, they advocated for recovery of the money. They are waiting for the report and Treasure Memorandum to see those who recovered and those who didn’t and see the way forward.
“Accountability has a process. When money is spent and sent to different agencies, an audit is done and is presented to committees of parliament, which later gives a report on the floor of Parliament.” She said.
Kizza also talked about the low performance of the parliament saying it is majorly been caused by absence of ministers and this makes the public lose confidence in their representatives.
“The low performance of parliament is mainly attributed to the continued absence of MPs and on many occasions, the house has been adjourned. We are a big parliament and sometimes we even do not have enough seats. The construction of new Chambers is what we need.”
In conclusion, she thanked the people on social media for their vigilance and making the public aware of the current situations in the country and urged them to continue showing support by keeping their eyes on the net.
