The Uganda People’s Congress leaders have made a call to Parliament to abandon the Lumu bill for fear of chaos and political manipulation.
Appearing before the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on October 10, 2024, Fred Ebil, the UPC Secretary General, rejected the bill, saying it will cause chaos and division-ism within the opposition.
The Lumu bill, presented by the Mityana South MP, seeks to allow opposition MPs to elect the Leader of Opposition (LoP), rather than the current system where the largest opposition party appoints the LoP.
Ebil said that the bill will cause more chaos than ever before and therefore urged the Parliament to expedite the enactment of electoral reforms ahead of the 2026 general elections.
He added that the Parliament should abide by the Supreme Court pronouncement on having electoral reforms enacted before the electoral road map is released in order to beat the deadline before the coming elections.
“We met with the Electoral Commission as IPOD members; they requested we talk to MPs; if the government is delaying, like the Ministry of Justice isn’t bringing it up, maybe one MP can come up with a constitutional amendment that can help them conduct elections in a free and fair manner,” he said.
The call for Parliament to discontinue the amendment of the Lumu Bill by the opposition members of Parliament is still ongoing, though it is unclear whether it will be handled before the parties embark on rallying support for the incoming elections.
