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All the 82 ministers of the Uganda government were absent for Wednesday’s Parliament plenary, forcing Speaker Anita Among to adjourn the House amidst disappointment and anger.
The Speaker with heavy disappointment on starting the plenary realised that not even a single minister was present to handle concerns emanating from members of the House.
“As you see, this is one of the abandoned houses and we are wondering whether we still have Ministers! How do we handle the house, MPs have issues, how do we handle the house without Ministers, how?” a disappointed Among posed.
“I am not sure we are going to continue like this, I think I need to talk to the Executive, We are going to talk to the Executive on this matter,” she added.
The Speaker who has been a long-term crusader against absenteeism in the House now says she will bring the matter to the immediate attention of the Head of the Executive, President Museveni.
In 2022 while still Deputy Speaker, Among said she would write to President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on the continued absence of senior ministers during plenary sittings.
Her statement followed urgent matters of national importance that the legislators raised on the floor that required responses from senior line ministers, but were deferred due to their absence. During that specific sitting, only 10 ministers were present.
On 20 August 2021, the Deputy Speaker Among adjourned plenary following unending apologies from the Government Chief Whip to shield absent Ministers.
There are 82 Ministers, 30 of whom are Cabinet Ministers.
Story and Photo by Eric Dominic Bukenya