Are we about to miss Amama? asks Mafabi

Whereas Mr Mbabazi would give precise and prompt answers, Dr Rugunda wants written questions that are advanced before hand in order to think through and give relevant answers.

It started well for the new prime minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda. And then last week happened. On the floor of Parliament was former Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, the exuberant Nandala Mafabi.
Mr Mafabi sent the House into spasms of laughter when he took it upon himself to declare that Parliament was already missing the “wit and brilliance” of former premier Amam Mbabazi
His assessment was prompted by the new Premier, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda’s persistence on the position that henceforth, Prime Ministers Question Time should cease being a spontaneous affair, and that members should start submitting questions a few days to Wednesday.
“We are about to miss the other PM immediately. You have seen this one wants written questions and written answers to come and read them. The other one would come and answer questions immediately,” he said.
As the new Premier continued looking on in silence, someone on the Opposition side shouted: “We need to test his intelligence.” That made the usually diffident Dr Rugunda bolt right out of his seat in exasperation.
“When members raise questions about their constituencies, they should get very robust answers and that is why we have the government machinery. My view is that there should be better and more open channels so that minister can be better prepared and ready to answer the questions in advance,” he said. How will it end?

Cabinet paralysed?
Mr Mafabi also last week took fresh aim at the front bench in Parliament, accusing ministers of fearing to contribute to serious debates because they are worried of a pending reshuffle. “For the 28 years Museveni has been in power, I had never seen ministers lining up in Entebbe to welcome and celebrate his return,” he said.
“But when he fired Mbabazi, everyone lined up to register that they are with him.” The House was engulfed in laughter as Mafabi signed off: “This is a worried group of people. They cannot even contribute to any debate independently and we, therefore, cannot trust them with anything. They will come here and they will just say, pass everything just because they want to impress.”