The House has confirmed Hon. Esther Afoyochan, Hon. Prossy Akampurira, Hon. Solomon Silwany and Hon. Mathias Mpuuga as the new backbench Parliamentary Commissioners.
Party Whips designated the new Members to the Standing Committee in accordance with Rule 158 (1) of the Rules of Procedure during Tuesday’s plenary.
Mpuuga will represent the Opposition while the NRM will be represented by; Afoyachan, Silwany and Akampulira.
They will serve between January 2024 to May 2026.
However, the approval of Commissioners for the NRM Party received some protest from Yorke Alion (Aringa South County) who wondered by the NRM Party asked MPs to apply for positions of Commissioners, yet all signs showed the Party wanted to maintain the old team.
“In November, the Government Chief Whip requested MPs from NRM to apply for the position of Commissioners. I am reliably informed that over 200 MPs applied. These MPs (Commissioners) were meant to be subjected to an election which hasn’t taken place within the NRM Party. As a Party, we also had a resolution in Kyankwanzi to have our Commissioners undergo primary elections, and then be presented to Parliament,” said Alion.
He added: “There is no way the Government Chief Whip is going to convince us that of all the NRM MPs we have, we only have the three MPs who can serve in the capacity of the Commissioner. There is what we call injustice, there is what we call corruption, and disrespect of the law is taking place on the NRM side. And I want to advise the Government Chief Whip that the step you are taking is going to divide the Party.”