With just a few hours to the presidential inauguration scheduled for May 12, attention is expected to return to the race for the next Speaker of the eleventh parliament whose election will be on 24th May, 2021.
In a race projected to be too close to call going by the glamour it has been treated with, mostly by the media and some enthusiasts within the ruling National Resistance Movement – NRM, the next two weeks will indeed be hot .
In the contest, a highly undeniable picture that the ruling party is spoilt with choice due to the commendable profiles of the two principle candidates has been sent out there.
It’s against that background that Watchdog’s Andrew Baba Buluba takes you through the profiles of the incumbent and her deputy to help you better establish who is better suited for the Speakership vote come May 24.
Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga
The Kamuli District Woman MP was born on May 24 1956 in Mbulamuti, Buzaaya County, Kamuli District. She attended Namasagali College for both O and A level before joining Makerere University for Bachelor’s degree in Law, graduating in 1978. The following year, she attained a diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre.
In 2000, she obtained a Diploma in Women’s Law from the University of Zimbabwe and Master of Arts (MA), specializing in Women’s Law, also from the University of Zimbabwe three years later. In 2019, Nkumba University awardwd her an honorary doctorate of Laws.
Work experience
Kadaga, the most experienced Member in the eleventh parliament has represented Kamuli District since 1989, a record 33 years.
Her career started in 1984 in private legal practice untill 1988. The following year, she would be elected Kamuli District Woman MP, a Constituency that covered the present day districts of Kamuli, Buyende, Kaliro, parts of Jinja and parts of Luuka.
She was a member of the 1995 constitution making Assembly – the Constituency Assembly [CA] between 1993 and 1995. The following year, she was re-elected the first District Woman MP under the new constitution.
She also served as the Chairperson of the University Council for Mbarara University, between 1993 and 1996 and Secretary General of the East African Women Parliamentarians Association in 1996, Minister of State for Regional Cooperation (Africa and the Middle East) between 1996 and 98, Minister of State for Communication and Aviation from 1998 to 1999 and as Minister for Parliamentary Affairs from 1999 to 2000. She then became Deputy Speaker of Parliament in 2001 until 19 May 2011, when she was elected Speaker of Parliament replacing Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi who had been appointed Vice President. On 19 May 2016, she was unanimously re-elected Speaker of Parliament for a second five year term.
Parliamentary duties
Besides being the Speaker Kadaga also sits on the following parliamentary committees:
Appointments Committee which reviews all Cabinet appointments by the President, with powers to approve or reject an appointment. She chairs this committee.
As Speaker, Kadaga also chairs Parliamentary Commission and the Business Committee.
Career highlights
Her support for the 2012 controversial Anti Homosexuality Bill has been a mixed landmark pro and anti homosexuality activists within and without the country. She insisted the Bill which sought death or life imprisonment for homos was a good one since most Ugandans backed it.
In December 2012, during a visit Rome to give a speech at the Seventh Session of the Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the International Criminal Court and the Rule of Law, she stood her ground in defense of Uganda’s stance on homosexuality and received a rare audience with the Pope in what was highly publicized as a blessing from Vatican.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi however responded that “relations with the delegation were not out of the ordinary and no blessing was given.” The group of Ugandan MPs greeted the Pope “just like any other individuals attending an audience with the Pope would” and this was “by no means a specific sign of approval of Kadaga’s actions or proposals.
Jacob Oulanyah
He is the incumbent Omoro County MP in Omoro District, Northern Uganda. He is also the Deputy Speaker and NRM Vice Chairperson for Northern Uganda.
He was born in the then Gulu District, on 23 March 1965. He attended St. Joseph’s College Layibi, Dr. Obote College Boroboro, and Kololo Senior Secondary School for his O-Level and A-Level education.
In 1988, he joined Makerere University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Agricultural Economics in 1991. That same year, he entered law school, also at Makerere University, graduating in 1994 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. At Makerere, served as Guild Speaker. In 1995, he attended the Law Development Centre (LDC), where he obtained a postgraduate diploma in legal practice.
Following his graduation from the LDC, Oulanyah worked as a lecturer at the centre and began a career in private legal practice during the same timeframe, forming the Oulanyah, Onoria & Company Advocates.
In 2001, he successfully contested for the parliamentary seat of Omoro County, the then Gulu District under the no-party system also known as the Movement Political System. He was however a cardholder of the Uganda People’s Congress (UPC).
In 2006, standing as a UPC candidate, he lost his re-election bid but bounced back in 2011 after quitting UPC to join NRM in July 2006 and subsequently elected Deputy Speaker in May 2011.
Following the February 2016 general election, Oulanyah was re-elected as Deputy Speaker of Parliament on 19 May 2016. In the vote, conducted by secret ballot, he received 300 votes, while Mohammed Nsereko received 115. On 13 July 2019, Oulanyah was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity by Zoe Life Theological College USA and acquired the title, Doctor enabling him be called Rt. Hon. Dr. Jacob L. Oulanyah
Parliamentary duties
Besides his duties as Deputy Speaker of Parliament, he sits on the following parliamentary committees:
Appointments Committee – The Committee reviews all Cabinet appointments by the President and may approve or reject an appointment: The Deputy Speaker is the vice chairperson of that committee.
Career highlights
He participated in peace talks between the government and the Lord’s Resistance Army [LRA] of Joseph Kony. He also chaired the committee of inquiry probing the controversial sublease of Kiseka Market in 2008.
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