NEW PARLIAMENT COMMENCES SWEARING IN
Starting from today the members of parliament will be sworn into office at the main chamber of the house in alphabetical order, with the entire exercise expected to last three days, before the 9th parliament of the Republic of Uganda will then formally meet for the first time, and elect a Speaker as its first order of business. Once inaugurated the new parliament will also vet the choices by the President of his cabinet appointees, a mandatory requirement before any appointment can become legally effective, and it is understood that an extensive list of potential ministerial candidates will be submitted, allowing the President to choose his new team. Ministers of the former government remain until such time that the new appointments take hold in office in an acting capacity, ensuring that the functions of government can be carried out without interruption.
Meanwhile are preparations continuing at the Ministry of Finance for the reading of the national budget 2011/2012 which is due in June and will be submitted on the same day and at the same time to all parliaments of the East African Community, with harmonizing measures built in as every year in the recent past to gradually bring tax, duty and excise tariffs in line as required by the various protocols of the EAC.
Watch this space as the new legislature finds its footing and determines its business for its first year in office.
