IS SOMETHING ABSOLUTELY WRONG WITH OIL DEALS TO THE EXTENT THAT PARLIAMENT CANNOT DEBATE THEM?

Oil: President urges Kadaga not to recall MPs

By YASIIN MUGERWA

Posted Wednesday, September 28 2011 at 11:03

In Summary

Senior government officials were last night locked in a meeting over the agreements signed with oil companies after President Museveni, according to highly-placed sources, asked authorities in Parliament to defer a motion to recall the House from recess.
Senior government officials were last night locked in a meeting over the agreements signed with oil companies after President Museveni, according to highly-placed sources, asked authorities in Parliament to defer a motion to recall the House from recess.
A senior official in Parliament yesterday told Daily Monitor that President Museveni had already briefed Speaker Rebecca Kadaga to address MPs’ concerns without necessarily recalling Parliament to discuss the oil deals the government signed with foreign firms.
“The big man has ordered that this debate should not take place,” a source said. “He said Speaker Kadaga should find other legal means to discuss the oil sector without necessarily recalling Parliament because of the confidentiality clauses in the contracts. “But the Speaker is apparently stuck on how to proceed because Article 95(5) mandates her to re-call Parliament within 21 days upon receipt of the members’ signatures.”
MPs have gathered and submitted the required number of signatures to force the recall of the House to try and force some transparency in a sector dogged by widespread allegations of corruption.
Speaker Kadaga wrote to the chief petitioners Abdul Katuntu (FDC, Bugweri) and Theodore Ssekikubo (NRM, Lwemiyaga) on Monday asking them to restate the reasons for the emergency session. “I have received your petition...but I am unable to discern the emergency which would require the recall of Parliament from recess,” Ms Kadaga’s letter reads in part.
The two petitioners, however, described the Speaker’s letter as a delaying tactic and were, by press time last night, preparing a response to her which was expected to point out that the Constitution does not require the matter to be an emergency.
The MPs accused the President of undermining the independence of Parliament by “arm-twisting” the Speaker, but the President’s spokesman, Mr Tamale Mirundi, denied the claim, pointing out that Mr Museveni could simply ask MPs from his ruling NRM party to stay away from the session. Many ruling party MPs are among the 166 who have signed the petition. By press time, Speaker Kadaga was locked in a closed-door meeting with the First Premier Eriya Kategaya, Attorney General Peter Nyombi and Energy Minister Irene Muloni.

ymugerwa@ug.nationmedia.com