Parliament expunges 10bn displeasure motion against deputy speaker Oulanyah

Parliament has expunged from its record a displeasure motion against the Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah. The motion was passed at the height of controversies on the allocation of 10 billion Shillings that was given to the institution for interventions to control the spread of coronavirus disease.

Although the motion was initially against the president, who castigated parliament for the allocation, which he called a trap, Bugabula South MP Maurice Kibalya moved an amendment to include the Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah, who was condemned for returning the 20 million Shillings he was given as part of the allocation.

But Oulanyah said he returned the money on the guidance of the President and Parliament. Prior to the return, the court had ruled that parliament erroneously appropriated the money.

Oulanyah wrote a letter to the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga two weeks ago challenging the manner in which the motion was handled and his name dragged into it. According to Oulanyah, Kadaga wrote back to him saying she will expunge the name from the motion. However, this had not been done to date.

He says if a motion against the Deputy Speaker is going to hold, it should be substantive and not an informal or amended one. Oulanyah says he has been seeking to have this record expunged from the Hansard.

Oulanyah unusually attended the plenary session since morning and asked the Speaker to allow him speak. The matter had not been handled when parliament took a lunch break, prompting Oulanyah to follow the Speaker to the VIP room for further discussion of the matter.

Kadaga bowed to pressure and asked that the name be expunged from the Hansard.

Upon the Speakers Pronouncement, Oulanyah walked out of plenary and told journalists that he had to attend the session, because the matter he had not yet been handled as he requested.

Kadaga and Oulanyah have had conflicts stemming from a 2016 contest for the number three position in the country. The two have openly failed to agree on the procedure of who should chair the house and on several occasions accused the other of working against them.

URN