Omoro County Member of Parliament, Hon Jacob Oulanyah has been elected the Speaker of the 11th Parliament replacing Rt.Hon. Rebecca Kadaga.
Oulanyah was elected Speaker at the First Sitting of the 11th Parliament held at the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds on Monday, 24 May 2021.
The sitting was presided over by the Chief Justice, Justice Alphonse Owiny Dollo and attended by President Yoweri Museveni.
Oulanyah polled 310 votes followed by Kadaga who got 197 votes with Kira Municipality MP, Hon Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda getting 15 votes.
Oulanyah who thereafter was sworn in and handed instruments of power by the President, called for cooperation saying that he will provide clear leadership as Speaker.
“Together we should the build relationships, mend the bridges and work together. Utmost due diligence will be the catch phrase,” Oulanyah who has been Deputy Speaker for 10 years said.
He added that all MPs from the different political affiliations will need to work in harmony for the greater good of the House and the country.
“”We should agree that no view shall be suppressed and work with tolerance.
We should act in a harmonious way and have collective responsibility,” he added.
Later, Oulanyah presided over the election of the Deputy Speaker which saw Bukedea Woman MP, Hon Anita Annet Among emerge victorious with 415 votes.
Mawokota South MP, Hon Yusuf Nsibambi came second with 35 votes and Kampala Central’s Muhammad Nsereko got 24.
Among said, ‘I commit to promote team work, coherence and enhancement of welfare of MPs’.
In his remarks, President Museveni called on the new Parliament to budget correctly in order to transform the economy.
“This kisanja is for socio-economic transformation. We need to get our people out of underdevelopment. First of all, budget correctly so that our people who want to work have no excuse,” Museveni said.
He reiterated government’s commitment in fighting corruption citing the actions he took against top management and the board at Uganda Airlines saying that, ‘The airline was infiltrated and when I got information, I disbursed them immediately. With zero tolerance to corruption, we shall succeed’.