The Commonwealth Parliament Association has endorsed Speaker Rebecca Kadaga for the position of the chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians International.
The endorsement means that Ms Kadaga has the backing of all the 48 delegates with voting rights come the Wednesday contest with Australia’s Lisa Baker for the position.
By yesterday afternoon, there were 86 voters out of which Africa has 48 voters, Asia four, Australia one, Britain has 13, Canada seven, Caribbean 10, The Pacific five, South East Asia five. India is not represented.
Speaking to the Daily Monitor at the side lines of the meeting, Ms Kadaga said she expects to win the race and that winning brings enormous opportunity for women in “Uganda, Africa and the across the world”.
“The question of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) presidency is very important for Uganda because it gives me and the country an opportunity to speak on the international forum for Africa and for the women movement across the world on especially matters of democracy, good governance and easy access to social services and good leadership for the women,” she said.
If Ms Kadaga wins, she will hold the position for the next three years. Prior to entering this contest, Ms Kadaga was until early this year serving as the chairperson of the CWP Africa Region. The CWP is a gathering of female legislators from all the Commonwealth member states.
If elected to the president, Ms Kadaga will replace Ms Alix Boyd Knights, speaker of the House of Assembly, Dominica.
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