Former Common Man’s Party presidential candidate Mubarak Munyagwa Sserunga, popularly known as “Mugati gwa Butter,” has said he opposed the Administration of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2024 from the outset, arguing that it contradicted the existing legal framework governing Parliament.
Speaking during NBS Eagle on Sunday, the former Kawempe South Member of Parliament said the proposal introduced by Mityana South MP Richard Lumu was inconsistent with the laws regulating parliamentary leadership structures.
“I didn’t support Lumu’s bill from the start because it was against our law,” Munyagwa said.
The bill, which was formally withdrawn during Thursday’s plenary sitting, had proposed a significant change to the method used to select the Leader of the Opposition (LoP).
Under the proposed amendment, opposition Members of Parliament would have been allowed to directly elect the LoP through a vote among themselves.
Currently, the LoP is designated by the opposition party with the largest number of MPs in Parliament, effectively allowing that party to appoint the leader on behalf of the broader opposition.
Critics of the existing arrangement have argued that it imposes a leader on other opposition legislators without their direct participation in the selection process.
However, the proposal faced opposition from several lawmakers across different political parties. According to Lumu, MPs from multiple opposition parties — including the National Unity Platform, Democratic Party, Forum for Democratic Change, and Uganda People's Congress — were not in favor of the bill.
While explaining his decision to withdraw the legislation, Lumu told Parliament that the absence of consensus among opposition lawmakers made it difficult for the bill to proceed.
He also warned that the proposed elective model could potentially be exploited to advance interests beyond the opposition, including possible interference from members of the ruling party.
Several opposition legislators further criticized the proposal, arguing that it had been drafted in bad faith and could weaken the opposition’s ability to coordinate strategy and effectively hold the government accountable.
Commenting on broader parliamentary dynamics, Munyagwa also accused opposition MPs of frequently misusing parliamentary time.
“The opposition wastes a lot of time on irrelevant matters, and later, when they see that elections have only one year left to run, they start taking them seriously,” he said.
Munyagwa further claimed that the ruling National Resistance Movement had interests related to the leadership structure in Parliament. “NRM wanted a Leader of Government Business and a Leader of the Opposition,” he added.
The withdrawal of the Administration of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2024 effectively preserves the current arrangement under which the largest opposition party designates the Leader of the Opposition.
