Connect with us
By Gad Masereka Kampala, (UG) – Victoria University (VU), a trailblazer in education, has been crowned Uganda’s Best Private University for the 2024/25 academic year in...
By Prof. Lawrence Muganga, Transformative Educationist and Vice Chancellor, Victoria University. When the United Arab Emirates (UAE) appointed the world’s first Minister of Artificial Intelligence (AI)...
By Hannington Mukidi As the clock strikes midnight and we usher in 2025, The New Light Paper extends warm wishes to all our valued readers for...
By Gad Masereka Sudhir Ruparelia, Uganda’s leading business magnate, has added another jewel to his illustrious portfolio with the unveiling of a cutting-edge development along Kitante...
Uganda’s celebrated business mogul and philanthropist, Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia, has shared a heartfelt message to close 2024, inspiring Ugandans and the global community with his vision...
By Gad Masereka Uganda’s festive season reached its zenith as renowned business tycoon Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia brought together family, friends, and elite guests for an extravagant...
Six suspected highway robbers have been apprehended by the Police Flying Squad Unit on the Kampala-Mityana road. The suspects have been identified as Ibrahim Ssemuwemba, a...
Felix Odupa, a former Kioga County MP candidate, has stated that after mourning the death of Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah, his next step will be to spearhead the proposal to have the country’s president elected by parliament. Odupa stated on the NBS Morning Breeze show that he will accomplish this by collecting signatures to ensure that Uganda transitions from the current presidential system to a parliamentary democracy electoral system. He also revealed that the proposal has already received approval from the Electoral Commission. “After we pay our respects to our brother Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah, we will begin collecting signatures to ensure that the president is elected by parliament.” “We’ve already received approval from the Electoral Commission,” Odupa said. According to Odupa, the country requires a solution to a number of issues with the current constitution, and one of those solutions is the proposal to change the electoral system. Early in January, a group of NRM party candidates who lost in the previous parliamentary elections backed the electoral system amendment proposal, led by Odupa, through their group Transformer Cadres Association Uganda. “We propose that parliament create a Senate or Upper House.” Political parties with representation in parliament will nominate members of the Senate of the Upper House. The Senate will be represented based on the strength of the parties in the lower house. This is intended to improve the quality of debate in the area of legislation.” In January, Odupa told journalists. If amended, this opens the way for a hybrid parliamentary system in which parliament and local government councils elect the head of government, who also serves as the head of state. When asked about his position on the proposal in January, President Museveni said that voting should be done by all Ugandans, not just Members of Parliament. “It limits such a President’s legitimacy.” “I don’t support and will not support that proposal because it should be for the entire population,” Museveni said in an interview with the NewVision.
Allan Ssewanyana, a detained Makindye West MP, is seeking an injunction to stop the election of the speaker of parliament until he is allowed to run for the same office. MPs are expected to vote on Friday for the next speaker of parliament to replace the late Jacob Oulanyah, who died on Sunday in the United States of America after being rushed for medical treatment. Ssewanyana, who is being held on remand at Kigo Maximum Prison on several murder and terrorist charges, says he has expressed interest in being the next speaker. Ssewanyana claims that while he is on remand, he is still only a suspect who is innocent until proven guilty, implying that he has all rights to engage in the process, including expressing interest and running for speakership. Similarly, in addition to being ill, spending too much time on remand without trial, and having numerous pending responsibilities for which he has been seeking bail, Kawempe North MP Muhammad Ssegirinya told the court that if the current deputy speaker of parliament resigns, he would like to run for the position. The trial magistrate instructed the MPs’ counsel to study the appropriate legal routes via which their interests in the contest for speakership might be successfully represented when delivering her verdict, in which she further remanded the MPs until April 6. “……regarding the application that the accused parties want to make in relation to the speakership contest, this can be done through their counsels,” she said. Lukwago stated that before seeking an injunction to stop the ongoing process for the election of the speaker, he will seek an audience with the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Mathias Mpuuga to inform him of the MPs’ interest in running for the same position. MPs, on the other hand, had already expressed their dissatisfaction with the slow pace of the investigations into the murder charges leveled against them. They also blamed the prosecution, led by Richard Birivumbuka, the Masaka local chief state attorney, for what they called persecution, claiming that the state has continuously failed to find substantial evidence that would allow them to be committed to the High Court for trial. However, in his response, Birivumbuka requested that the court give him until the next adjournment to present the committal papers for the two MPs, claiming that he was nearing completion with the preparation of crucial witnesses in the case.
By Gad Masereka A key suspect in a string of murders in the Masaka sub-region has gone missing. Around 15 suspects, including two MPs from Makindye...