The ruling National Resistance Movement Party leadership has decided that the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga and her deputy Jacob Oulanyah will not be attending the retreat for Members of Parliament at the National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi.
Richard Todwong the Deputy Secretary-General told reporters on Thursday at the NRM Secretariat that because of the tight schedule of parliament to pass the 2021/2022 budget before the May deadline, the two leaders of the house must remain behind.
The incumbent MPs who made it to the 11th parliament will also stay behind.
When asked whether the issue of the speaker will be discussed, Todwong said it wasn’t part of the agenda.
“There will be a speaker in the 11th Parliament and shall be elected by MPs at the right time. So let’s wait for the right time when members elect the speaker and you will know who it will be. The retreat is not about the election of the speaker,” Todwong said.
The program released today indicates that MPs-elect who are not part of the current parliament will congregate at Kololo Independence Grounds for accreditation and testing for Covid-19.
Those who will be found negative will then be driven in buses to Kyankwanzi the following day where they will stay up to April 29. According to results from the Electoral Commission, 337 MPs were elected on the NRM ticket. Of these, 137 are incumbent members of the 10th parliament.
61 independent MPs who are NRM leaning will be signing a memorandum of understanding to work closely with the party. Other than the 18 who are also part of the 10th parliament, the rest too will be attending the Kyankwanzi retreat.
27 Members of the Central Executive Committee of the party and six members of the East African Legislative Assembly will be part of those to attend.
Todwong says the retreat is aimed at ideologically reorienting the NRM leadership to enable them to refocus on the social and economic transformation of Uganda and the survival of the African race amidst global challenges.
