Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga kicks off campaigns for speakership
By Our Reporter
Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga is a Ugandan lawyer and politician who has been Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda since 19 May 2011. She is the first woman to be elected Speaker in the history of the Parliament of Uganda. She succeeded Edward Ssekandi, who served as Speaker from 2001 to 2011
1- She is the 1st woman to establish a law firm in Uganda. Thousands of ladies inspired and now flourishing lawyers in Kampala, Gulu Mbarara, Mbale etc.
2- A priced pioneer of FIDA and during her tenure as FIDA President 1986 – 1989, the first legal aid clinic in Uganda to support the ordinary people and the unprivileged was created.
3- First woman to become Speaker in Uganda. Again, millions of girls and young ladies across the country are inspired by Kadaga’s exceptional courage to assume the leadership of the Legislature and excellently steer it.
4- Rule of law and human rights advocate. Uganda Law Society on Christmas Eve bestowed on Rt. Hon. Rebecca the Rule of Law Award.
4- Parliament of Uganda under Kadaga is the first in the world to introduce the Certificate of Gender Equity, which stipulates that all budget and recruitment processes should consider gender parity.
The UN Women recognized Kadaga in 2018 for introducing the Certificate of Gender Equity.
Rebecca Kadaga remains the prized & objective Speaker to uphold the prestige, integrity and the independence of Parliament as the vanguard of democracy.
A former Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Chairperson 2013-2016 is Rt Hon. Rebecca Kadaga MP. A lawyer by profession, she holds a Master’s Degree and is currently the Speaker of Parliament of Uganda, the third highest position in the national leadership of Uganda. She was the Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Uganda from 2001 to 2011.
From 1986-1999, she won accolades of distinguished service in many portfolios when she served as a Cabinet/State Minister. She has held a number of high profile positions and played a leading role in women empowerment activities at national and international levels.
She has been the Vice Chairperson of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (International) as well as an Executive Committee Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly representing Africa. She has been the Chairperson of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian Africa Region where she is spearheading a campaign of engaging leaders of political parties to appreciate the value of increasing the number of women in high positions of leadership.