FDC Secretary General Nandala Mafabi (down) had sought to sack his colleague Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda as the opposition Chief Whip (R)(PHOTO/Courtesy).
KAMPALA – Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has rejected the replacement of Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda as the opposition Chief Whip, saying the FDC leadership did not showing evidence of following the party procedures in the move.
Last week, FDC Secretary General Nandala Mafabi, dropped Ssemujju as party whip in Parliament and replaced him with Yusuf Nsibambi, who is the Mawokota South MP.
But in a letter dated August 16, 2023, to Mafabi, Among said she has received petitions from several party MPs, expressing displeasure about the circumstances under which Ssemujju was replaced.
According to Among, the MPs accused Mafabi of taking the decision without consulting the Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
“They further state that the decision you communicated is illegal and ultra vires,” she wrote.
As a result, he asked the FDC Secretary General, Nandala Mafabi to provide evidence of the meeting he held with FDC MPs agreeing to sack Ssemujju Nganda as their whip and asked FDC Party leadership to address the issues raised in the petition, saying the failure to do so would affect harmony, cohesion and operations at Parliament.
“I note that section 6J (1) of the Administration of Parliament Act and Rule 15 (7) of our rules of procedure require a party in opposition to appoint its whip,” she said.
“The petition I received is essentially telling me that the party did not sit, through its organs, to take a decision to withdraw and replace the current whip. I also note that unlike in the past, on this occasion no meeting of a Party organ has been mentioned in your communication as having taken this decision and yet it has serious consequences on the workings of the legislature. The above notwithstanding, while these are internal party matters, they affect the harmony, cohesion and operation of Parliament. I am therefore unable to effect your communication until the matters raised by the petitioners have been resolved and a communication made to that effect to avoid legal consequences of the same and disruption of Parliamentary Business,” she added.
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