OWN CORRESPONDENT Kampala | Thursday 9.00PM.
THE Ugandan parliament has rejected a list of 16 names submitted by President Yoweri Museveni in a cabinet reshuffle.
On Wednesday Museveni presented the list of two new ministers for unspecified cabinet posts and 14 junior ministers or ministers of state, enlarging the cabinet to include 19 full ministers and 43 junior ministers. The list included Museveni’s brother, Major General Salim Saleh for one of the ministerial posts. At the moment he is the “overseer” of the Defence department.
The parliamentary committee that reviewed the list threw it out because of a need to limit government expenditure and the lack of regional representation. It is the first time since 1966 that parliament has rejected cabinet changes.
Under Ugandan law, presidential appointees to cabinet must be approved by parliament in closed session before the new names are made public. But Museveni made the list public on Wednesday before the session.
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