Female lawmakers under the Uganda Women’s Parliamentary Association have drawn themselves into the parliament speaker-ship battle by siding with incumbent Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga.
The association had since January remained on the side-lines of this raging contest as supporters of the incumbent traded barbs on social media and traditional press with those of her closest contender,Jacob Oulanyah.
However, at a press conference on Thursday, Pamela Nasiyo Kamugo the UWOPA Chairperson broke the silence, announcing that the group will be backing any female who presents herself for the position.
Presenting their position, Kamugo told journalists that having a female speaker will provide a semblance of gender parity in the national leadership.
“We have seen the judiciary, the chief justice is a man, the deputy is a man so why can’t we also have Parliament headed by a woman? As UWOPA we shall be glad if MPs of the 11th Parliament choose a lady as the next speaker of parliament,” she said.
“Our current speaker of parliament has performed well and with impartiality. We therefore hope that she is retained.”
Besides, she says, a female speaker would mirror representation of the country’s biggest voting group.
“The total number of registered voters for the 2021 General Elections according to the Independent Electoral Commission of Uganda was 17, 658, 527 of which 8,439, 564 are male voters representing 47.79% and 9,218, 963 are female representing 52.21%,” Kamugo argued.
