President Yoweri Museveni’s next cabinet is set to expand to 80 members after the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party caucus endorsed a proposal to that effect.
During a caucus meeting on Monday at Kololo ceremonial grounds in kampala, Museveni said he is introducing one more slot on the cabinet list for reasons he will give later.
“The present lineup is 79 including the Vice President. I just want to add one State Minister for some reasons I will give later,” Museveni proposed to members of the National Resistance Movement –NRM Caucus at Kololo Independence Grounds. They unanimously approved his suggestion.
Though the constitution allows the president to name only 42 ministers where by 21 are full ministers and 21 state ministers but more are added without the constitutional amendment through a formal motion in parliament to approve the additional.
Before the January 2021 general election, Museveni’s cabinet had a total of 79 Ministers, out of which 29 were Ministers while 50 were State Ministers.
However, the NRM Director of Legal Services Oscar Kihika, guided that the procedure of varying the Cabinet number would require the President to first propose the names of the Vice President and Prime Minister which would then be presented to parliament for vetting.
Museveni said that he would soon name the Vice President and Prime Minister and later issue a list for Ministers. He appealed to the NRM Parliamentary caucus to support the proposed new number when a motion is finally presented on the floor of parliament.
“Thereafter, the two individuals would then be sworn in so that they take office. That would then enable the Prime Minister to come to parliament and propose the number of the rest of the cabinet members as you would have elected,” Kihika said.
According to Kihika, parliament’s approval of the proposed number of Ministers would then pave way for the president to release names of those appointed Ministers and to be vetted by parliament.
The opposition in Parliament has in the past objected the move to expand parliament and Hon Wilfred Niwagaba presented a Bill in the Tenth (previous) Parliament suggesting reducing the size of Cabinet to about 40 Ministers (21 Cabinet Ministers and 21 State Ministers). The objective of the provision in the Bill is to reduce the public expenditure.
