Parliament of Uganda did not sit on Tuesday after both the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and her Deputy Jacob Oulanyah failed to show up.
The development followed an adjournment by Oulanyah on Thursday last week to Tuesday 2:00pm. It is stipulated in Rule 19 (2) of the Rules of Procedure that the House shall sit on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
But, without any official communication from the Clerk to Parliament Jane Kibirige, Tuesday's sitting did not happen.
We have since learnt that Speaker Kadaga is attending the 8th Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which is bringing together countries engaging in trade with the Arab emirate with a major focus on foreign direct investments (FDIs), while Oulanyah flew out of the country for different engagements in Missouri, United States, including giving a talk at Missouri Baptist University on creating an exchange programme.
Now, the absence of the two Speakers to preside over business in the afternoon session brought parliament business to a standstill.
By Thursday last week, 16 issues were lined up as pending business to be on the Order Paper. These included the adoption of two reports from the committee on Defence and Internal Affairs on the Learners' Project under the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) and on the oversight visit to the regional forensic analytical laboratory in Eastern Uganda.
Other pending business is the consideration of the National Bio-technology and Bio-safety Bill, 2012 as returned by President Yoweri Museveni, a motion for a resolution of parliament to inquire into allegations of sexual harassment in institutions of learning in Uganda.
The others are the presentation of the report of the committee on physical infrastructure on the inquiry into mandatory inspection of motor vehicles in Uganda, a motion for a resolution of parliament to review the provision of vehicles to political leaders, public and civil servants and the adoption of the report on the committee on presidential affairs on the management and operations of the city abattoir.
