The speaker of parliament Anita Among has asked the residents of Gulu not entertain any request for votes in the next election from those politicians who have boycotted the Gulu parliamentary sittings.
In her remarks while opening parliament on Wednesday the speaker noted that Gulu is part of Uganda and no one can stop parliament from holding sittings in Gulu.
Anita Among tasked the people of Gulu to be keen on those boycotting the Gulu sitting during the campaign season.
“I pray that those who are behind a boycott do not come to Gulu or to the Greater North when it is only campaign time.”
This comes as some members of the opposition including the leader of opposition in parliament shunned the Gulu sitting.
Early this month, Ssenyonyi while addressing the press criticized the regional plenary sittings describing it as a waste of public resources. He also rallied opposition legislators to boycott the event.
Meanwhile,the speaker of parliament has warned members against engaging in irrelevant activities during the ongoing regional parliamentary sitting in Gulu.
The speaker’s warning came after Lwemiyaga county MP Theodore Ssekikubo who asked the speaker to explain why she denied them a chance to table a motion to censure the parliamentary commissioners for misconduct yet they had acquired all the required signatures.
In her response to Lwemiyaga MP Theodore Ssekikubo, the speaker advised him and other Mps not to bring their irrelevant issues to Gulu.
“Honorable members,Issues that do not concern this region should not be issues to be discussed. We have parliament in Kampala , where you can do all the manianga.Let have have respect for the people of Gulu.”
Parliament Director of Communications and Public Affairs Chris Obore while addressing the Press Tuesday evening said no extra allowances other than the normal inland travel allowances had been given to legislators to attend the regional plenary sitting. Obore said each of the legislators was given the standard 400,000 shillings as an inland travel allowance for three days amounting to 1.2 million shillings.
The regional plenary sitting is the first of its kind in the country since 1962 when the country attained its impendence. The sitting is expected to be extended to Eastern, Western, and Central Uganda with the major aim of bridging the gap between the parliament and the local populace.
President Museveni is expected to attend the plenary on Thursday.
