The National Unity Platform (NUP), the party with the largest number of opposition legislators has said it is going to defy the Deputy Speaker’s order banning all unvaccinated people from accessing the Parliament of Uganda.
Last week, Anita Among, the Deputy Speaker said that nobody including MPs, support staff and the public will be allowed to access Parliament unless they can prove that they are vaccinated.
But speaking in Kampala on Monday 1, November 2021, Joel Ssenyonyi, the spokesperson of NUP who himself an MP representing Nakawa West constituency said Among’s order is not only illegal, but also runs contrary to the current COVID-19 realities where the number of vaccines available are fewer than the population eligible for vaccination.
Ssenyonyi said NUP MPs on Tuesday 2, November 2021 will be at Parliament but will carry no vaccination cards for proving that they were jabbed.
In a letter written on October 29th addressed to Members of Parliament (MPs), support staff and the general public, Henry Yoweri Waiswa, the deputy clerk to parliament, said the order is aimed at increasing uptake of the COVID-19 jabs that are currently available in the country.
“The office of the Speaker is in agreement with the President’s observation and in the communication of the Deputy Speaker…. at the sitting of parliament Thursday, October 28, 2021, she gave a directive that access to the precincts of parliament should be restricted to Members of Parliament, staff and visitors that will show proof of vaccination against COVID-19,” Waiswa’s letter reads in part.
Parliament is not the first institution to limit access to unvaccinated visitors and staff members. The National Medical Stores (NMS), the Ministry of Health and a number of Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) have in the past few weeks restricted access to their premises. However, the ministry of health is yet to make it illegal for unvaccinated people to access certain public premises.
