{UAH} Ota"fire" 'Roasted,' Expelled By MPs

Otafiire 'Roasted,' Expelled By MPs

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By Deo Walusimbi

Rattled by his blunt talk, the parliamentary committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs ejected the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Kahinda Otafiire and his delegation from a hearing on Wednesday.

The committee accused the outspoken minister of 'undermining' its powers. Otafiire was defending his ministry's Shs 42.6bn budget for the 2014/15 financial year. The MPs were particularly angered by Otafiire's insistence that the committee had no muscle to "influence" the ministry of Finance to revise his ministry's budget.

"You mean this committee can influence the ministry of Finance to increase our MTEF?" Otafiire asked the committee members.

"We have over the years proposed to the ministry of Finance to give us funds not only to recruit more judges, but also state attorneys for the DPP [director of public prosecutions], the attorney general's chambers, administrator general's chambers, first parliamentary council, but we can't achieve it as of now because the resource envelope is small," he said.

"But you [MPs] are the ones who create this problem of having the small resources because you create more districts which translate into more constituencies [administrative costs], and the government obliges to it," Otafiire said.

Angered, Busiro East MP Medard Sseggona shot back.

"But is the minister right to blame the creation of more districts on MPs instead of blaming it on the president who always creates districts out of political patronage and what has he and his ministry done to curb this?"

In response, Otafiire said: "The shadow minister [Sseggona, Justice and Constitutional Affairs] here is preaching to a converted person."

The minister said committee members were asking questions whose answers were "obvious."

"I hope this committee will be understanding and helpful to convince the ministry of Finance to increase the number of judges and state attorneys," he said.

Stung by Otafiire's blunt talk, Steven Tashobya, the committee chairperson, ruled to eject the minister and his delegation from the committee. He accused the minister of undermining the committee.

"I think we are wasting our time to be with the minister who doesn't know that we [committee] can influence the ministry of Finance to give his ministry money.

So, let him go back, we shall call him later," Tashobya said. The chairman had earlier warned Otafiire that the committee would "stand over your [ministry budget] until we have been updated on the process of appointing the new chief justice and deputy justice."

Before his ejection, Otafiire urged MPs not to "roast" him for Museveni's failure to appoint a chief justice and a deputy. He said that responsibility doesn't fall within his docket.

"The Constitution says that there shall be a chief justice appointed by the president on the advice of the judicial service commission with the approval of Parliament, where is the minister of justice in this case and why are you roasting me?" Otafiire asked.

The Judiciary has been without a substantive chief justice for over two years now.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower

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