KAMPALA- The Kawempe North MP, Erias Nalukoola has asked Speaker Among to accord him some substantial time on the Order Paper to articulate the predicament in Kawempe North, so as to make use of the unutilized time that wasn’t used by the former MP, Muhammad Ssegirinya due to his ill health that deprived his voters of representation in the 11th Parliament.
He made the request after taking oath of allegiance and oath of Member of Parliament in the Speaker’s Chambers, where he asked the Speaker that when that time comes of making his mainden speech, he isn’t restricted to the two minutes allocated to MPs, but instead he is allowed to inform the nation of the issues affecting Kawempe North.
Nalukoola requested that when the sitting resumes will be accorded an opportunity to communicate to Parliament and the nation about the state of affairs of Kawempe North constituency, which has not been represented substantively for so long.
Speaker Among agreed to allocate Nalukoola more time for speaking noting, “When the House resumes, we will give you space. Because truth be told, they’ve not been represented for some time, because Ssegirinya was sick for some time, and they were deprived of representation. Welcome to 11th Parliament.”
During the event, Speaker Among also defended the decision to have Nalukoola take oath in the Speaker’s Chambers as opposed to the Chambers as most MPs that join Parliament after by-elections, saying Nalukoola isn’t the first MPs to take oath in the Speaker’s Chambers as there are two previous MPs that have done so.
She added it is not the first time that this has been done in the speaker’s chamber giving example on 5th October 2017 and 22nd June 2018, when Robert Kasule and Faith Alupo were respectively sworn in, in the Chambers.
The Speaker also instructed the Clerk to Parliament, Adolf Mwesige to ensure that Nalukoola receives all benefits entitled to him as MP.
Joel Ssenyonyi, Leader of Opposition congratulated Nalukoola for enduring the trials throughout the campaigns.
