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Kampala, Uganda | URN | Former Kira Municipality MP, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, has queried President Yoweri Museveni’s appointment of a “Stranger” -Justine Kasule Lumumba- as Government Chief Whip, saying it seeks to legitimise long-standing irregularities in the position.
Any person physically in the precincts of Parliament who is not an MP is called as a Stranger.
Lumumba, who in the last term was the Minister of State for General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister, was among the appointees announced on Tuesday evening.However, unlike several office bearers before her, she is not a member of Parliament.
Her selection has thus raised concerns over adherence to parliamentary rules. Section 6 of the Administration of Parliament Act and Rule 15 of the Rules of Procedure of Parliament stipulate that the Government Chief Whip should be appointed “from among Members of Parliament representing the ruling party.”
Speaking in an interview with URN, Ssemujju Nganda argued that this “ambiguous appointment” further erodes the parliamentary character of the Chief Whip’s office.
“Ordinarily, the whip, whether chief or ordinary party whip, should be a member of parliament, and it has never happened with an outsider,” he said.
Since the country returned to a multi-party system in 2006, all previous Government Chief Whips have been sitting MPs. They include Kabakumba Masiko, who was the first appointee and also served as Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Daudi Migereko (2009–2011), Justine Kasule Lumumba herself (2011–2014), Ruth Nankabirwa Sentamu (2015–2021), Thomas Tayebwa (2021–2022), and Denis Hamson Obua (2022–2026).
Ssemujju noted that while the law and Rules of Procedure envisage the position being held by a ruling party MP, President Museveni has over the years transformed the role into what is effectively a full cabinet ministerial position.
Ssemujjju says that while the law and Rules of Procedure anticipate the Government Chief Whip to be chosen from among ruling party MPs, President Museveni has over the years transformed the role into a full cabinet ministerial position.
Ssemujju explained that Parliament budgets for and provides offices for the Government Chief Whip, just as it does for the Chief Opposition Whip. However, the same person is also facilitated under the Office of the Prime Minister as a cabinet minister, creating what he called a “dual role” and duplication.
“You can’t have a person provided for by parliament and is also provided by the executive,” Ssemujju stated. “It is irregular. But that’s what Museveni has done it and he has given that office a dual role.”
He emphasised that the core functions of the Whip are mobilising MPs to attend sessions, ensuring participation and voting, and handling party business in the House and are currently being distorted.
Ssemujju said:
“The government whip should not be the one commanding ministers. That is not his duty. That’s the duty of the leaders of government business and their deputy… This is supposed to be a full-time parliamentary job, but now the person is also a full cabinet minister. So that confusion now, I think he has cemented it by bringing someone who is not an MP.”
Ssemujju compared the current appointment to previous controversial decisions by President Museveni, such as appointing serving military officers to ministerial positions, which faced resistance from Parliament but it eventually prevailed.
“When Museveni appointed Jeje Odong… Parliament and Kadaga refused to vet him… But subsequently Museveni appointed others who were not challenged and it became normal. So he has returned on this position and this is now an attempt to normalise an abnormality,” he said.
The appointment also revives an old debate in Parliament over the expanding role of the Government Chief Whip and whether the office has gradually taken on ministerial functions outside its mandate.
Questions about the position are not new. In 2016, the role of the then Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa came under scrutiny from legislators during plenary sittings of Parliament.
At the time, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, then the Opposition Chief Whip, questioned why Nankabirwa regularly sat in for ministers and responded on matters that ordinarily fell under the Leader of Government Business or substantive ministers.
Santa Alum, the then UPC Parliamentary Whip and Apac Woman MP, also raised concern over what she described as the expanding authority of the Government Chief Whip within the executive arm of government.
Meanwhile, even as legal and procedural questions continue to emerge over the appointment, congratulatory messages for Justine Kasule Lumumba have been flowing online, with the appointee publicly embracing the new role.
About 17 hours after the Cabinet list was released, Lumumba posted a message on X, formerly Twitter, expressing gratitude for the appointment.
“I am humbled by this responsibility as Government Chief Whip and commit to serve diligently in coordinating government business in Parliament for the good of all Ugandans,” she wrote.
