At least 20 lawmakers who have returned to the House to form part of the 12th Parliament shoulder a legislative history of at least 20 years and beyond.
The 12th Parliament has a total of 529 directly elected legislators, who are joined by ex-officios within President Museveni’s Cabinet.
The Kamuli District Woman Representative (DWR), Ms Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, is one of the most senior and consistent lawmaker on the list of longest-serving legislators in Parliament.
Ms Kadaga has beaten all opponents who have ever vied against her for the same seat she has held since she joined the then National Resistance Council (NRC) in 1989.
Ms Kadaga has served in very pivotal positions, including being the Deputy Speaker of Parliament (2001-2011) before being elevated to the House Speakership (2011-2021).
Despite shouldering a towering legislative experience, House records show that Ms Kadaga attended less than 10 of the 352 plenary sittings held by the 11th Parliament led by Anita Among.
Ms Kadaga’s relationship with the Among administration was rough, both within and outside the precincts of Parliament. The bitterness between the duo intensified in the buildup to the 2026 General Election held on January 15.
In the end, fresh party entrant, Ms Among, defeated Ms Kadaga for the position of Second National Vice Chairperson in the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the NRM.
Golden oldies
After she took oath on May 13 at Parliament’s main entrance, Ms Kadaga undertook to support government efforts aimed at polishing Uganda’s education sector, transport facilities and general infrastructure of the country.
Parliament records show that the National Resistance Council was the Fifth Parliament of Uganda. It was formed shortly after President Museveni took power in 1986.
Its tenure stretched to 1996, a period that saw its numbers swell from the initial 38 members after other representatives from other parts of the country were included.
Part of the list of the 38 historical members is Maj Gen (rtd) Jim Muhwezi (Rujumbura), whose spell in the House has encountered disruptions as he faced defeats in various election cycles.
Others who equally faced disruptions include James Nsaba Buturo (Bufumbira County), Maj Gen Kahinda Otafiire (Ruhinda County), and Jessica Alupo (Katakwi DWR).
Ms Alupo has been in Parliament for four terms, and the oaths she recently took kick-started her fifth term in the House. She particularly served in the seventh, eighth, ninth and 11th Parliaments.
Between 2011 and 2016, Ms Alupo was appointed to serve as the State minister for Education and was in 2021 appointed Vice President, a position she held until she bounced back in the 2026 polls. She has since been retained to serve in the newly named Cabinet as the Vice President for the 2026-2031 term.
Mukono Municipality legislator Betty Nambooze Bakireke is one of the Opposition’s longest-serving DWRs. Ms Nambooze entered the House in May 2010 through a by-election. She is also believed to be the first female legislator to be elected on the Democratic Party (DP) ticket.
Ms Nambooze used the same party ticket to retain her seat during the 2011 and 2016 general elections. It was during the 2021 electoral season that she ditched the DP party card to contest on the National Unity Platform (NUP) party card. She would go on to maintain her seat in 2021.
She equally leaned on the same NUP ticket to win the Mukono Municipality 2026 parliamentary race. ‘There is a need to work towards restoring public trust in Parliament. The previous five years saw this Parliament appear to conduct House business as though it was an extension of the Executive instead of working as an independent arm of government.’
Comebacks
Elsewhere, Mr Elioda Tumwesigye joined Parliament in 2001 as the Sheema North representative. His tenure in the House would stretch from the seventh, eighth and ninth parliaments.
He was kicked out of Parliament by former Commissioner for Domestic Taxes at the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), Mr Dickson Kateshumbwa, when the two competed to become the legislator for Sheema Municipality in the 2021 General Election.
Mr Tumwesigye consequently recoiled back to Sheema North in the just concluded 2026 polls from where he emerged the winner to return to the House.
Voters in Sheema also returned Mr Ephraim Kamuntu to legislate as the Sheema South lawmaker on the NRM ticket. Mr Kamuntu had served in the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th Parliament on the same seat. He was, however, dislodged by Mr Elijah Dickens Mushemeza in the 2021 elections.
Similarly, Mr James Kakooza leaned on the ruling NRM party ticket to return to the House to represent the Older persons in the central region in the 12th Parliament.
This means he will be reactivating the legislative duties he executed in the seventh, eighth and ninth parliaments when he was MP for Kabula county.
Another returnee is Mr Hassan Kaps Fungaroo, whose first tenure in the House started in 2006 when legislated on behalf of the voters in Obongi County. He specifically sat in the eighth, ninth and 10th Parliaments, having been voted on the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) ticket.
His journey was, however, disrupted by Mr George Bhoka of the NRM in the 2021 General Election. Mr Fungaroo bounced back to the House after the 2026 polls.
The list of other long-serving lawmakers scheduled to serve in the 12th Parliament includes Gen Moses Ali (Adjumani West), Mr Matia Kasaija (Buyanja County), and Dr Chris Baryomunsi (Kinkizi East) and Anifa Bangirana Kawooya (Mawogola West).
‘Whatever was not accomplished, this is the time now to ensure that people get the expected service,’ Ms Kawooya told Weekend Monitor shortly after swearing in as a member of the 12th Parliament.
Promises
Workers’ legislator Arinaitwe Rwakajara, who has been in the House since 2011, told Weekend Monitor that he still has a lot to offer. Mr Rwakajara has, among other things, promised to ensure workers benefit from a targeted programme designed and bankrolled by the government.
The programme is tailored to mirror what other special interest groups (SIGs) like the elderly currently command.
‘The workers have not had any programme. The elderly have Sage [Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment], the youth have Youth Livelihood Funds, the women have their funds.
This time the government must design a programme where workers can also benefit in funds from the government,’ Mr Rwakajara disclosed.
‘So, this time I am going to fight and make sure and demand and request the government to have a budget for a certain programme to empower workers of this country,’ he added.