Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga (born 24 May 1956) is a

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

n lawyer and politician who served as the

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

of the

Parliament of Uganda The Parliament of Uganda is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Uganda. One of its primary functions is to pass laws that support effective governance in the country. Government ministers are required to answer to the people's represe ...

from 19 May 2011 until 21 May 2021. She currently serves as the First Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda. She concurrently serves as Minister for East African Community Affairs, in the

Cabinet of Uganda There are 30 Cabinet ministers and 50 Ministers of State in the Cabinet of Uganda (2021 to 2026). The number of state ministers reduced by one in September 2024 after the death of Hon. Sarah Mateke who was the state minister for defence. Accor ...

. She is the first woman to be elected Speaker in the history of the Parliament of Uganda. She succeeded

Edward Ssekandi Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi (born 19 January 1943) is a Ugandan politician and lawyer who served as the eighth vice president of Uganda from 24 May 2011 to 21 June 2021. Prior to that, he served as the Speaker of Parliament from 2001 to 2011. He ser ...

, who served as Speaker from 2001 to 2011. She is also the current Member of Parliament (MP) for the

Kamuli District Kamuli District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Kamuli is the site of the district headquarters. Location Kamuli District is bordered by Buyende District to the north, Luuka District to the east, Jinja District to th ...

Women's Constituency,

Busoga sub-region Busoga sub-region is found in Eastern Uganda occupying an area of over 10,000 square kilometers and according to the 2014 national census about 40 percent of the people in the eastern region live in this sub-region. Administrative divisions As of ...

, a position she has held since 1989.

Background and education

She was born in

Eastern Uganda The Eastern region is one of four regions in Uganda. As of Uganda's 2014 census, the region's population was . Districts , the Eastern Region contained 32 districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries ...

, on 24 May 1956. Rebecca Kadaga attended

Namasagali College Namasagali College is a mixed boarding middle and high school located in Kamuli District in Eastern Uganda. Location The school is situated on a campus at Namasagali, approximately , by road, northwest of the town of Kamuli, where the distric ...

for her high school education. She studied law at

Makerere University Makerere University (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922, and the oldest currently active university in East Africa. It became an independent national university in ...

, graduating with the degree of

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

), in 1978. She went on to obtain a

Diploma in Legal Practice A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

from the

Law Development Center The Law Development Centre (LDC) is an educational institution in Uganda for higher learning that offers various legal courses ranging from one month to one year. Overview The LDC is the only institution in Uganda that offers the Bar Course lead ...

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

in 1979. In 2000, she obtained a Diploma in Women's Law from the

University of Zimbabwe The University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is a public university in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was opened in 1952 as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and was initially affiliated with the University of London. It was later renamed the Univers ...

. In 2003, she obtained the degree of

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

(MA), specializing in Women's Law, also from the

. In 2019,

Nkumba University Nkumba University (NKU) is a chartered private university in Uganda. It was established in 1994 as part of a group of schools and colleges that originally grew from a kindergarten established in 1951. The university is not affiliated with any pa ...

, a private university in

, awarded Kadaga an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degree.

Work experience

Between 1984 and 1988, she was in private law practice. From 1989 to 1996, she served as the member of parliament for

in the District Woman's Constituency. She served as the Chairperson of the University Council for

Mbarara University Mbarara University of Science & Technology (MUST), commonly known as Mbarara University, is a public university in Uganda. Mbarara University commenced student intake and instruction in 1989. It is one of the ten public universities and degre ...

between 1993 and 1996. In 1996, she served as

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the East African Women Parliamentarians Association. From 1996 to 1998, Rebecca Kadaga was the

n Minister of State for Regional Cooperation (Africa and the Middle East). From 1998 to 1999, she was Minister of State for Communication and Aviation, and from 1999 to 2000, she was Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. She was elected as Deputy Speaker of Parliament in 2001, a position that she held until 19 May 2011, when she was elected

Speaker of Parliament The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hun ...

. Following the February 2016 general election, Kadaga was unanimously re-elected as

on 19 May 2016. On 20 December 2017, Kadaga presided over the Ugandan Parliament session that passed a constitutional amendment which, among other measures, eliminated the requirement for candidates running for the presidency to be younger than 75 years of age. The amendment essentially gave Museveni leeway to run for President of

for his sixth term in office. On 14 January 2021, Kadaga was re-elected to Parliament as a Woman Representative for Kamuli District. Consequently, she embarked on a campaign to retain her position as Speaker of Parliament for a third term. Kadaga lost the Speaker Vote to her former deputy Jacob Oulanyah after falling out of favor with her party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM).

Parliamentary duties

Besides her duties as speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, she sat on the following

parliamentary committees A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

: * Appointments Committee – The Committee reviews all Cabinet appointments by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, and may approve or reject an appointment: The Speaker chairs the committee * The Parliamentary Commission – The Speaker chairs the Commission * The Business Committee – The Speaker chairs the committee

Controversy

Kadaga vowed to pass the

Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 was an act passed by the Parliament of Uganda on 20 December 2013, which prohibited sexual relations between persons of the same sex. The act was previously called the "Kill the Gays bill" in the western main ...

through parliament by December 2012. The bill – sometimes referred to as the "Kill the Gays bill" – at one time sought to make acts of homosexuality punishable by death or life imprisonment but later removed the death penalty option from the bill. She says it will become law since most Ugandans "are demanding it". In December 2012, Kadaga was in Rome to give a speech at the Seventh Session of the Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the International Criminal Court and the Rule of Law. Reports circulated that Kadaga received a blessing from

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

at a Vatican mass. Soon after the news broke, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi issued a statement that said: “relations with the delegation were not out of the ordinary and no blessing was given.” The group of Ugandan MPs greeted the Pope “just like any other individuals attending an audience with the Pope would” and this was “by no means a specific sign of approval of Kadaga’s actions or proposals.” In March 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Kadaga tweeted that a "spray, which instantly kills the Corona virus, has been discovered & is to be co-produced in Uganda". She gave an impression that what was later on to be understood as a simple sanitizer was actually treatment for COVID-19 and received so much backlash from Ugandans on social media and professional bodies in the medical field like the

Uganda Medical Association The Uganda Medical Association (UMA), is a registered non-governmental, professional organization that brings together all the qualified and duly registered medical doctors in Uganda. Location The association maintains its headquarters at Chris ...

, and the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda. She hit back by calling the people of the Association brainless. In April 2020, during the

, Kadaga and her fellow members of parliament allocated to themselves over 10 billion Uganda shillings of what was meant to be relief funds for efforts to fight against the pandemic and its associated socio-economic disruptions.

References

External links