By Teddy Namayanja
As the Parliamentary regional sittings commence today in Gulu at Kaunda Grounds, a section of out raged Ugandans these among other including some politicians & MPs in the opposition, analysts, activists and youths continue to criticize and question the motive behind the initiative.
While some opposition members of parliament defied the directive of Leader of Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi to boycott the sittings, majority have not attended.
The question then is, is boycotting these sittings the right strategy by the opposition?
Renowned political Analyst Prof. Ndebesa Mwambustya shares his opinion.
“If you are Joel Ssenyonyi and you are against the regional sittings, people in those regions might think you are against the regions”. He noted while appearing on a political talk show this morning on one of the local TV stations.
This perhaps explains the attendance of legislators from the northern region who believe that this historic golden opportunity to host the sittings will have an impact on the issues that have for long affected Northern Uganda.
“Those calling for a boycott against the Gulu Parliamentary sittings, I term them as enemies of progress and the region. If I was in the opposition this is the right time to come and put NRM government in a mirror. According to the calls of the Leader of Opposition, it shows the opposition doesn’t care about the people.” Government Chief Whip Hamson Obua noted earlier today while on a political talk show.
Prof.Ndebesa Mwambustya however seems to disagree.
“The regional sittings are popular, but this does not mean they are necessarily going to shine a light on the challenges of the region.” He noted.
He has advised the opposition to use better strategic approaches bearing in mind the sensitivity of some of these issues.
Earlier this month a section of legislators from Northern Uganda lashed out at Ssenyonyi over the move and accused him of being tribalistic.
Yesterday, the speaker of Parliament Anita Among stressed the importance of the sittings, highlighting the significance of the Greater North in Uganda’s history, including having had a President from there. She dismissed claims from the opposition that regional sittings are a waste of taxpayer’s money, defending the initiative to hold regional sittings as a way of bringing Parliament closer to the people.
