EXCLUSIVE: NUP urged to back Kaluya for Commissioner of Parliament

With just two months left to the inauguration ceremony of newly elected Members of Parliament, political pundits have appealed to the country’s largest opposition party dubbed the National Unity Platform to abandon any thoughts of issuing the position of Commissioner of Parliament to any lawmaker from Buganda especially if the slot for Leader of Opposition is to be retained by Joel Ssenyonyi who also hails from Buganda.

The opinion comes amidst internal reports that several lawmakers including Makindye West MP Zahra Luyirika Maala, Lubaga North MP Abubaker Kawalya,and Kyandondo East MP Muwadda Nkunyingi who are said to be lobbying for the seat.

However, the Eastern bloc NUP MPs have all united behind their most senior, Andrew Kiiza Kaluya of Kigulu South who also doubles as the NUP Secretary for Mobilization in the Eastern region. The Busoga lawmakers say it would be ideal for their party to appoint Hon. Kaluya for the position of Commissioner of Parliament citing a range of attributes and his role in promoting the party within the Eastern region.

Andrew Kiiza Kaluya:

The Kigulu South MP elect is a senior lawmaker who previously served in the tenth parliament that is remembered for passing the age limit Bill. Hon. Kaluya, then an NRM MP rebelled against the caucus position and voted against Museveni’s life presidency which would eventually cost him a parliamentary seat in the 2021 polls. Despite all this, Kaluya did not back down and he indeed joined the National Unity Platform party in 2023 and was eventually declared the party’s secretary for mobilization in Eastern Uganda, taking over from troubled Moses Bigirwa. Hon. Kaluya has been working tooth and nail to deliver significant victories for NUP in the Eastern region and indeed all the 8 parliamentary slots scooped by the party are credited to him. The Busoga factor coupled with the 8 parliamentary seats won for NUP and his parliamentary seniority place Kaluya at the apex of the odds for attaining the parliamentary commission seat. Though he has not formally expressed his interest in the position, Hon. Kaluya has pulled public support from NUP members who believe he deserves the position.

By press time, officials at Makerere Kavule were yet to comment on the development