Tempers flare in Ugandan parliament

By Halima Athumani

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - Parliamentary business in Uganda was brought to a halt after legislators discovered soldiers in the building’s prayer chapels on Tuesday.

Parliament has been holding a special session to debate two reports, one in favor and the other against the removal of the presidential age limit in Article 102(b) of the constitution.

However, Doris Akol -- an opposition legislator -- went to the parliament’s Catholic Chapel to pray only to discover soldiers who had secretly pitched camp.

“I am really shocked. When I got there, both the Catholic and the Anglican chaplaincies were occupied by soldiers. They were eating from there. They have disorganized the whole place.”

Akol quickly ran back to the house to inform the Speaker. Charged legislators stormed the Chapel but found the doors closed and a scuffle ensued.

Tempers flared in the house, the Speaker adjourned the sitting and upon resumption, she demanded for an explanation and an apology from the Minister of Internal Affairs.

“If you brought people here without my knowledge, I told you I want to know who is here for the civility of this institution. So I want to know if they are Parliamentary Police, why were they eating in the chaplaincies?”

General Jeje Odong, the Minister of Internal Affairs, to the annoyance and interruption from other legislators said: “When we went to verify, we established that they were policemen eating but not in the chapel. So it is not true, that a chapel were used as eating places.”

Heated debate continues on whether the age limit for the presidency should be lifted and on a proposal to increase presidential and parliamentary terms from five to seven years.

If passed, long-serving President Yoweri Museveni will be eligible to stand again in 2021, aged over 75 years.