Tayebwa writes to Museveni over censuring Namuganza 

Combo (L-R): President Museveni, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa and the State Minister for Housing Persis Namuganza. PHOTOS/ FILE

What you need to know:

  • The chairperson of the select committee shall afterwards report to the House with findings before the Speaker calling upon the chief petitioner to open debate on the motion which will be followed by defence by the concerned minister.

President Museveni has been notified of Parliament’s intention to censure Ms Persis Namuganza, the State Minister for Housing.
Mr Thomas Tayebwa, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, last Friday informed legislators that he would write to the President over the matter after nearly half of legislators attached their signatures in support of the motion to censure the minister.

A State House source, who preferred anonymity, told this publication yesterday that the President was notified through a December 23 letter written by the Deputy Speaker.
“Mr Tayebwa wrote to the President on the same day (December 23) and informed the President of the House’s intention to censure Ms Namuganza based on their [Parliament’s] Rules of Procedure,” the source said.
“His [President’s] response on the matter is yet to be known,” the source added.

Mr Tayebwa based on Rules of Procedure 109 (8) to notify the President about the House’s intention to censure Namuganza (Bukono County).
“The petition of censure having been moved, the Speaker shall forward the text of the motion, the supporting grounds, particulars and the supporting documents to the President within seventy-two hours of moving of the motion, for onward transmission of the same to the concerned Minister,” the rule reads.
Fourteen days from the date of transmission of the Motion to the President, Rule 109 (9) proceeds to state that the Speaker shall appoint a select committee to which the motion and all supporting documents shall be referred and the committee will, among several things, scrutinise and identify evidence to the allegations.

The chairperson of the select committee shall afterwards report to the House with findings before the Speaker calling upon the chief petitioner to open debate on the motion which will be followed by defence by the concerned minister.
A debate on the matter may not proceed if the motion is withdrawn for certain reasons.
But if the debate proceeds, Rule 109 (13) states; “the House shall vote on the Motion and if carried by more than half of all the voting Members of Parliament, the Speaker shall inform the President of this fact within 24 hours from the time the Motion was voted upon.”

Background
The move to censure Ms Namuganza gained traction last Friday after a proposed petition was placed on Parliament’s Order Paper which paved the way for debate and the chief petitioner to lay all supporting documents over the matter on the table.  
Mr Amos Okot (Agago North County), the mover of the motion, said 259 legislators had signed the petition. The House has 529 sitting MPs.

According to 109 (5) of the Rules, after at least one third of the members have appended their signatures on the [petition] list signifying support for the proposed petition under clause (1) of article 118, the Sergeant-at-Arms shall immediately forward the list to the Clerk, who shall not later than 24 hours, transmit the notice of censure, grounds, and particulars supporting the various grounds and the supporting signatures to the Speaker.

If less than one-third of all members had appended their signatures to this list, the notice of censure on Ms Namuganza would have not seen the light of day. In this case, the required number of signatures had been obtained to proceed with the process to censure the minister. Ms Namuganza is accused of undermining the work of Parliament by going on different social and media platforms to criticise the works of the House’s Ad hoc Committee which faulted her for manipulating the allocation of plots on the Nakawa-Naguru land.  
She has previously denied the allegations, adding that the House has never provided her with evidence pinning her for the accused crimes.