The Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, has upheld the government’s initiative to hold the regional sittings of Parliament in the four regions of the country.

While delivering her inaugural speech on August 28, 2024, at Kaunda grounds, Gulu City, Among said that the strategic decision was taken to upgrade the always budgeted for parliamentary outreaches into fully fledged house sittings, which will deliberate upon matters that are distinct and pertinent to the specific regions hosting the sittings.

Her speech was in response to the NUP’s directive to its MPs to boycott the parliamentary sittings on grounds of extravagance and wastage of taxpayer’s money.

According to Rt. Hon. Among, this resolution is to help solve regional issues that have been left out, arguing that the Parliament as a legislative house was not incurring additional costs.

‘’The decision to hold parliamentary sittings in Uganda’s traditional four regions is a strategy to bridge the gap between parliament and the people. It was a product of an elaborate cost-benefit analysis and attention to the specific and value nature of distinct realities affecting different regions of Uganda,” Among said.

She further noted that some decisions are made in the Parliament, forgetting that the regions differ from one region to another and have distinct issues that need to be handled region per region.

‘’Parliament is not a stationary building. It is an arm of government that can convene in any part of the country, and this is not unique to the legislature,” she added.

On August 6, 2024, the Leader of Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi said the Parliament was to spend at least Ugx 5 billion on the regional parliamentary sittings, yet the money could be diverted to other issues like payment of medical interns.