Katuntu to quit parliament in 2021

Bugweri County MP, Mr Abdu Katuntu, has said he will not contest again for the parliamentary seat when his term expires in 2021.
“I’m tired of being voted for and I’m no longer interested. Somebody else should take the mantle from me to lead the people of Bugweri. The four times I have been voted for are good enough and I call it quits,” he said.
Mr Katuntu who also doubles as the chairperson of Parliamentary Committee of Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) made the remarks during the burial of Esinasi Negesa Nagwomu, the mother to Mr Moses Nagwomu, the MP for Bunyole County at Kachonga village in Kachonga Sub County, Butaleja District on Saturday.

Mr Katuntu, however, urged the voters in their respective constituencies across the country to give their elected leaders enough time to deliver.
“The tendency of giving an MP only one or two terms is not enough for the legislator to cause development. The MPs should be voted for more than two terms that is when the voters can demand for what he or she has done,” he said.
Mr Katuntu, who is a practicing lawyer and member of Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), has been a MP for 20 years. He was first elected in 2001.

Mr Katuntu was recently replaced by Mubarak Munyagwa as chairperson COSASE in Shadow cabinet reshuffle by the Leader of Opposition, Ms Betty Aol Ochan.
Mr Katuntu’s current committee leadership was meant to expire on January 16, 2019 but Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga extended its tenure to February 20, 2019 to allow them conclude their current investigation- into the closure of several commercial banks by Bank of Uganda- amidst protest from FDC leaders.

The Government Chief Whip, Ms Ruth Nankabirwa, who also attended the burial warned MPs against carrying out early campaigns ahead of the general elections.
“I’m seeing MPs politicking and campaigning nonstop on community functions including burials, weddings and introduction ceremonies without shame,” Ms Nankabirwa said.
Recently, the Electoral Commission launched a roadmap for 2021 presidential and parliamentary, stating that elections will be held anywhere between January 11 and February 9, 2021.