Efforts by Leader of the Opposition Joel Ssenyonyi to halt the progress of the contentious Protection of Sovereignty Bill, 2026 were unsuccessful after a tense procedural standoff in Parliament, with Speaker Anita Among allowing the process to proceed.
The dispute unfolded when Ssenyonyi questioned the legitimacy of the bill, presenting what he described as a letter from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni allegedly distancing himself from the version tabled before the House.
According to the opposition leader, the President had raised concerns about the contents of the proposed law, casting doubt on its current form.
Ssenyonyi argued that significant alterations reportedly made by the Attorney General and the Minister of State for Internal Affairs had fundamentally changed the bill, effectively turning it into a new piece of legislation that required fresh tabling.
He also raised concerns about procedural integrity, questioning why the Head of State would engage committee leadership directly instead of formally communicating through the Speaker’s office.
Despite the objections, Speaker Among dismissed the claims, stating that she had not received any official communication indicating that the bill had been withdrawn or replaced.
“I have no record of a new bill before this House,” she ruled, maintaining that any formal changes from the Executive would have been communicated through the proper parliamentary channels.
When the opposition attempted to push for the withdrawal of the bill on procedural grounds, Among cautioned against pre-emptive debate, emphasizing that members should wait for the formal presentation of the motion before raising substantive objections.
Ssenyonyi then shifted strategy, questioning the validity of debating a committee report that had already circulated publicly.
He referenced an earlier parliamentary ruling where a leaked report was deemed unfit for debate, arguing that the same standard should apply.
However, the Speaker rejected the comparison, explaining that the current report had been officially uploaded to the Parliamentary Information System in line with procedural rules, and therefore did not fall under the category of an unauthorized leak.
With procedural objections overruled, the Minister of State for Internal Affairs, David Muhoozi, formally moved the motion for the second reading of the bill, signaling a key step forward for the government’s legislative agenda.
The Speaker subsequently allocated one hour for debate on the committee report, to be shared equally between the majority and minority sides, giving each 30 minutes to present their positions.
According to the joint committee report circulated earlier, several contentious provisions in the bill had been revised, setting the stage for a heated parliamentary debate in the next phase.
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