The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga on Thursday presented her profile to the new and old NRM Members of Parliament at the National Leadership Institute Kyankwanzi retreat.
Kadaga whose term as Speaker of the ninth Parliament is ending in May recently declared her interest to renew it like her predecessor Edward Ssekandi who was elevated to Vice President.
The Speaker was invited to introduce mainly the newly elected NRM MPs to the norms of multi-party Parliament.
Uganda returned to the multi-party system after the 2005 referendum that rejected the single party system of government that was referred to as Movement system.
Kadaga according the written speech seen by ChimpReports, addressed MPs on how to operate in a house with members from different political parties.
“We used to have the Movement system in the NRC (National Resistance Council). Since 2005 it has been the multiparty system. MPs are from different political parties but with the same roles of legislation, oversight and representation,” she explained.
After the lecture, Kadaga who had printed her profile distributed it to all members with her picture on the first page.
She did not say anything about campaigns according to sources who attended the meeting but her move to distribute the profile did the talking.
President Yoweri Museveni who is also the Chairman of the NRM on Wednesday banned campaigns in Kyankwanzi just a day before the Speaker and her Deputy arrived.
Jacob Oulanyah arrived at Kyankwanzi on Friday. Oulanyah is also in the race for Speaker and the NRM seems to be at the crossroads on who to pick between the two.
Below is Kadaga’s profile as presented to the MPs
Rt. Hon. Rebecca A. Kadaga is currently the Speaker of Parliament of Uganda. The third position in the hierarchy of national leadership in Uganda after the President and the Vice President.
She is a lawyer by profession holding Master’s Degree in Women’s Law from University of Zimbabwe (2002-2003).
She was also the recipient of the Golden Jubilee Award by the President of Uganda. She was recognized for women’s empowerment by the President of Benin and is a holder of the Grand Order of the Republic of Benin amongst others.
She has held a number of high profile offices and played a leading role in women empowerment activities at national and international levels. She served as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Uganda from 2011 to 2011. In 1999 she was appointed a cabinet minister in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, a post she held up to 2001.
From 1998 to 1999, she was appointed a minister of state in charge of Transport and Communication, From 1996 to 1998, she was a minister of State for Regional Cooperation.
On the International level, she is currently the Chairperson of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) International. She is an Executive Committee member of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly representing Africa geopolitical region.
In CPA Africa region, she has been the Chairperson of Common wealth Women Parliamentarian (CWP) Africa Region where she has been spearheading a campaign of engaging leaders of political parties in Africa to appreciate the value of supporting more women to contest for elections so as to increase the number of women in high positions of leadership like Cabinet and Parliament.
Other distinguished responsibilities include:- Was Secretary General East African Women Parliamentary Association in 1996.
Was president International Federation of Women Lawyers- FIDA, Uganda in 1986-89 and was credited with establishing the 1st legal aid service in Uganda under FIDA.
Was the founding Chairperson University Council- Mbarara University of Science and Technology. Current Chairperson of Busoga University Council. Is a campaigner for the eradication of female genital mutilation in Uganda and Horn of Africa.