By Andrew Irumba
Kabarole: Kabarole District Councillors have unanimously rejected a Bill proposed by the Parliament of Uganda to set the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) as the minimum educational requirement for all candidates who want to contest as district Councillors.
All the 41 Councillors from all the divisions on Monday unanimously agreed to reject the Bill and asked President Yoweri Museveni not to sign it into law unless the academic qualifications for Members of Parliament and that of the president are also elevated to Masters degree.
Currently, the minimum qualification for all councillors in Uganda are Certificate of Education (UCE) or O-Level. However, Members of Parliament want this revised and elevated to A-level before the 2021 general elections.
This reporter has established that the Bill was rejected in a Council meeting that sat in Fort Portal town on Monday, during which Hon. Anne Asasira, the district Councillor for Kasenda, moved the motion.
Hon. Saidat of West division defended the move and argued that Members of Parliament have never talked about the well-being of Councillors or increasing their allowances, yet they are always increasing their (Mps) emoluments. “Members of Parliament are greedy, self-centred and selfish; they only think about themselves,” Hon. Saidat said.
She was seconded by Mary Rwakyaka, who challenged MPs to also elevate their qualifications and that of the president if they’re not simply greedy. “If Councillors need A-Level to understand local issues then MPs need a Masters degree to understand national issues. So they should also elevate the minimum qualifications for anyone who wants to contest as MP to Masters degree.”
Hon. Balitwa Omweko wondered why MPs fear Councillors, saying that maybe it’s because councillors are popular on the ground and more influential than most dormant MPs who are just loitering in Kampala hotels and restaurants eating chips and chicken instead of debating for the country.
Similarly, Hon. Tatina of Kijura, said MPs only think about themselves when increasing their salaries and forget other Ugandans and in fact, they are the problem Uganda is facing now than the Education levels of district councilors.
Council, which was attended by 41 Councillors, was chaired by the deputy speaker of Kabarole district Hon Mathew Koojo, who is also aspiring for the Burahya country MP seat, currently represented by Hon. Margret Muhanga and with the creation of Fort Portal City, Muhanga will be in the city, not Burahya, since it’s in Kabarole, which increases Koojo’s chances of winning.
Deputy Kabarole Resident District Commissioner ( RDC) Justus Bindeba and the District LC5 Chairperson Richard Rwabuhinga were in attendance too.
