CAPE TOWN - A group of Ugandan Members of Parliament, described by President Yoweri Museveni as "rebel MPs", have sought the president’s forgiveness after initially expressing disapproval of certain governing party policy positions.
Ugandan president and National Resistance Movement (NRM) chairman Museveni posted several photos on Twitter of a meeting with the MPs on Friday, clearly sending a message to them.
“Avoid politics of tribe and identity. Our people are waking up ... leaders must work for the prosperity of their people. That's the most important thing,” Museveni tweeted.
“To the MPs, and indeed other leaders, my message is that you should be pre-occupied with the future and survival of the African race. That is what is critical, especially when we don't have a strong nation like [the] USA, China, or India as our anchor,” he wrote.
Uganda's New Vision newspaper reported that the group of 16 so-called rebel MPs had opposed Uganda's Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2017.
“We are here as your sons and daughters. We request you to forgive us and we move on,” Kumi Woman MP Monica Amoding reportedly said on Friday.
Workers MP Sam Lyomoki also pledged his continued allegiance to Museveni and the NRM. "Without your revolution, we wouldn't be in that Parliament, so thank you for this opportunity and please forgive us," New Vision reported Lyomoki as having said.
The BBC reported that Museveni is expected run for his sixth term of office at the helm of the East African country as the January 2021 elections approach.
Mass political rallies are prohibited in the buildup to the elections because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, but parties are using various media platforms, such as the internet and radio, to campaign in compliance with physical distancing regulations, Kenya's The EastAfrican weekly newspaper reported.
In terms of a court order, prisoners and Ugandan citizens in the diaspora will also be allowed to vote in the upcoming elections, ending a 25-year ban, according to the independent Ugandan newspaper the Daily Monitor.
As of July 18, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 1051 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Uganda, which no deaths being recorded to date.