KAMPALA – A delegation of Education ministry officials were on Tuesday kicked out of Parliament for failing to appear with First Lady Janet Museveni.
The ministry officials together with Ms Museveni were expected to respond to specific issues relating to the recent strike over the tuition fees policy at Makerere University. Instead, the officials appeared before the committee led by State Minister for Primary Rosemary Seninde.
This angered the committee members, including the Rubaga North MP Moses Kasibante, Lira Woman MP Joy Atim Ongom and Makindye West MP Allan Ssewanyana.
They revealed that they had invited Ms Museveni and not other junior ministers. They also accused the First Lady of having no respect for the Committee.
The Committee Vice-chairperson, Mr John Twesigye Ntamuhiira, explained that the committee decided that Ms Museveni would have to appear and respond specifically to sensitive issues including sexual harassment of female students and abdication of duty by university management among others.
Mr Twesigye asked Ms Museveni to appear before the committee on Friday without fail and respond to several issues happening at the university.
Last month, MPs expressed disappointment that the minister who had been invited to appear before MPs had yet again delegated the state minister for Higher Education Chrysostom Muyingo to answer queries about the impasse at Makerere. The MPs said, Muyingo, when he appeared on the floor of parliament, he seemed to always refer to the minister. Although the committee had invited the minister, she wrote to the committee saying that she had delegated Muyingo because of a busy schedule.
Speaker Rebecca Kadaga tasked the education committee to probe the current impasse at Makerere that has seen students protest for more than two weeks against the 15% cumulative tuition increment. The students strike has been met with unprecedented brutality which led to nationwide condemnation.
