Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has defended her move where she saved four Members of Parliament who were expelled by National Resistance Movement (NRM) from losing their parliament seats saying her stand was for the good of democracy

“I had to look at the constitution and make a ruling which has no precedent anywhere. It was landmark, I took oath to Uganda and the Constitution, I was defending the Constitution,” she said while appearing on Capital Gang, a popular Radio talk show.

She further said that if she had expelled the MPs, it would trigger off a series of expulsions from parties who wanted some of their MPs out and it would lead to by-elections. “I would receive a letter from Olara Ottunu (former UPC president, Democratic Party expelling members and lead to many by-elections,’ she said.

In April 2013, NRM’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) led by the then Secretary General, Amama Mbabazi requested that the Speaker expelled MPs Theodore Ssekikubo, Wilfred Nuwagaba, Mohammed Nsereko and Barnabas Tinkasimiire from Parliament.

Basing on Article 83 of the constitution, Ms. Kadaga observed that there were no grounds on which she could fire the four MPS from the house.

“Reading of the whole Constitution, there is no specific provision on the expulsion of Members of Parliament by their political parties leading to the declaration of their seats in Parliament vacant,” she said in her ruling.

The NRM later her appealed against her ruling to the Constitutional Court which overturned it, the four MPs appealed to the Supreme Court. And on 30 October 2015, led by Justice Bart Katuureebe, six out of seven judges held that the Constitutional Court was wrong to rule that the MPs leave Parliament.

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Spearker of Parliament, Rebbeca Kadaga has said there is no will among Ugandans to fight homosexuality both among population and legislators.

The Homosexuality Bill, which was introduced by MP David Bahati in 2009 called for the criminalization of sexual acts between members of the same sex.

The bill was controversially passed by Parliament, was assented to by the President but was challenged in court by a section of human rights activists and has since been outlawed.

“It did not pass because of the technicalities, the substance has not died. It depends on the movers to resurrect the matter,” she said.

Ms Kadaga who is seeking another elective term in the office of the Speaker was appearing on Capital FM signature talk show, The Capital Gang.

“I delivered the law, it enacted before Christmas. It is not the work of the speaker to pass a law and implement it.”

The Kamuli Woman Member of Parliament has been a proponent of the Anti-homosexuality law and at one point promised to deliver it to Ugandans as a Christmas gift.

Her views on homosexuality came out when she clashed with the Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, during the inter parliamentary union assembly in Quebec in 2012.

She accused him of disrespecting the sovereignty of Uganda by pushing the pro-gay agenda.

On the talk show, she promised to give the bill a chance in case it is brought back.

“If the movers bring it back for first reading, it will be back,” she said.

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Soldiers from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces have rounded a village in Apac district and collected all long horned cattle saying they belong to them.

Mr Charles Akora, who hails from Taroeali, Ibuje Sub-County, telephoned Eagle Online saying the army men surrounded the village in the wee hours of today morning and said villagers had become incessant in stealing long horned cows from the nearby government owned Maruzi farm.

“Nobody surely knows what is going on as no government official is here to explain. What I can confirm is that any long horned Ankole cow is being taken without verification” Mr Akora said.

Mr Akora revealed that the number of cows so far collected were approximately 110.

Telephone calls to army spokesperson, Lt Col Paddy Ankunda are yet to be answered but Eagle Online will keep bringing you the latest on the story as it develops.

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A Cabinet Minister who has come under severe attack for allegedly saying cancer patients ‘would die’ even if the chemotherapy machine at the referral hospital in Mulago was in good condition, has denied having ever said so.

Appearing on the political talk show ‘Capital Gang’ earlier today, the State Minister for Health in charge of General Duties Dr Chris Baryomunsi said he was quoted out of context by the media.

“The Speaker requested me to respond to Alaso after she said patients are dying in Mulago. I said it’s not true that death in Mulago has not started with the breakdown of the cancer machine,” Dr Baryomunsi said today.

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Dr Baryomunsi, who is now being referred to as the #MinisterOfCancer’ via Twitter because of the said comments, says that is a misrepresentation of what he said in Parliament.

“I’m not insensitive to say patients should die. It’s regrettable the machine broke down,” he added.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the break down of the cancer machine in Mulago, the Aga Khan has promised to take 400 Ugandan cancer patients to Nairobi for treatment while the rest will be treated using other alternatives.

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Jinja Municipality East Member of Parliament loser, Paul Mwiru has lined thirty witnesses to testify against MP elect Igeme Nabeta in the forthcoming election petition case against the UBC Board Chairperson.

Sources in the Igeme team say they are aware that the thirty intend to give testimonies on how they were denied voting but they are yet to identify them.

“They claim they were intimidated by NRM guys supporting Nabeta and therefore kept away from voting and they want to base on that to seek for a bye election,” a source in the Nabeta team told EagleOnline.

The source says Mr Nabeta is blaming his woes on Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga whom he accuses of having campaigned against him during the general election campaigns.

“He has told us that he wants his ballot for speaker to be ticked by Kadaga herself to show her that he has no grudges against her and he too doesn’t deserve to be fought by her the way she is doing,” the source said.

The court battles between the two adversaries are not new. Mwiru, filed a case last year accusing Mr Nabeta of lack of an authentic Advanced Level Certificate to contest for the seat which the later won.

Mr Mwiru in his petition argued that the certificate that Mr Nabeta got to enable him study a degree could not be equated to an advanced level of education that is a pre-requisite for one to attain a degree and stand as a Member of Parliament given the little time he took to study and marks scored [49 per cent].

He wanted court to compel NCHE and Uneb to cancel the equivalent certificate issued to Mr Nabeta and also order the Electoral Commission to cancel his nomination.

Meanwhile, Nabeta’s ratings seem to have improved. Some observers claim that while Mwiru has been holding sway in parliament, Nabeta has been holding court in the constituency, or using his radio, Baba FM, to reach out to voters.

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This Saturday, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga will appear on Capital FM’s signature talk show, the Capital Gang to defend her job which is under the knife.

It will be the first time in over five years that she will be appearing on the show.

“It is a highly anticipated show. I am already getting calls from people asking why I had never invited her,” Gang producer, Patricia Osman, told EagleOnline.

According to a show teaser on the show’s Facebook book page, the Kamuli Woman MP and NRM’s third in command will be tasked to justify if she deserves another term as the Speaker and will be taken down memory lane on her performance during her current tenure.

“We shall put her to task about MPs pay and benefits, her relationship with her Party, her relationship with her deputy and MPs of the opposition parties,

“We will ask her about the support she has given to MPs and those who’ve passed away, contentious bills like POMB [Public Order management Bill) and the homosexuality bill and whether she feels vindicated about the NRM ‘rebels’ seeing that all are back in parliament!” the teaser reads.

As Ms Kadaga was flexing muscles with President Museveni in the 9th Parliament, her deputy Oulanyah chose to unquestionably do his party’s bidding. The Omoro County MP has been so full of praise for President Museveni that there is a school of thought which holds that the party might choose to reward what is widely seen as his unrepentant sycophancy,

For the last couple of weeks, Ms. Kadaga has been on different media platforms defending her candidature for speakership, occasionally pulling out justifications such as her being a woman and deserving of re-election because she needs to be given ten years just like her predecessor Oulanyah.

If their public pronouncements are to anything to go by, Ms Kadaga is in the race with her deputy, Mr Jacob Oulanyah.

Ms Osman says the Gang will host Mr Oulanyah as soon as he accepts their invitation.

The Race for Speaker

For the 112 Women MPs, Ms Kadaga enjoys a favourable position. This week, the Uganda Women Parliamentarians Association (Uwopa) endorsed her as their candidate. Though the endorsement is not binding, Kadaga is a darling of women political circles and Oulanyah will find the Uwopa vote difficult to court.

The ‘so-called’ NRM rebel MPs Theodore Ssekikubo and Wilfred Niwagaba also see this as payback time for Ms Kadaga. They are actively mobilising for her in their respective regions. It will be recalled that the Speaker stood firmly by Ssekikubo, Niwagaba, Barnabas Tinkasiimire and Muhammad Nsereko, stoutly refusing to implement the wishes of her party to throw them out of the House after they were controversially expelled.

Senior legislator and Opposition chief whip Cecilia Ogwal says Mr Oulanyah should be comfortable with maintaining the status quo, saying the Speaker’s experience as minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Deputy Speaker and Speaker gives her an edge.

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