Who is Adolf Kasaija Mwesige? Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, wife, family, tribe, relationship with President Yoweri Museveni, Vincent Ssempijja, Crispus Kiyonga, former Member of Parliament for Bunyangabu County, Kabarole district, early life and education of the current Clerk to the Parliament of Uganda.
Adolf Kasaija Mwesige is a Ugandan lawyer and politician. He is the former Member of Parliament for Bunyangabu County and a member of the National Resistance Movement political party.
He has also served as a Member of Parliament representing Bunyangabu County in the Kabarole district for five consecutive terms.
Adolf Mwesige is currently the Clerk to the Parliament of Uganda. He was appointed to this position in July 2021 by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni replacing Mrs Jane L. Kibirige who had retired having assumed office since 08 February 2012.
Early life and Education
Adolf Kasaija Mwesige was born on April 4, 1966, in Kabarole District. He is a husband and father. He completed his A-level studies at Nyakasura School in Fort Portal.
Mwesige graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from Makerere University. He also has a diploma in legal practice from Kampala’s Law Development Centre.
He has a degree in Human rights law from the United Nations Center for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland and another degree in International law from the Public Administration Development Center in Berlin, Germany.
Career and Professional Work Experience
Since 1994, Mwesige has been an Advocate of the High Court of Uganda. He served as a Foreign Service officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1996, handling legal and consular issues.
He also served as the managing partner of the Ugandan law firm Mwesige, Egunyu & Company Advocates from 1996 to 2001.
Adolf Mwesige was initially elected as the representative of Bunyangabu County in Kabarole District in Parliament in 1996.
He then held the position of Minister for General Duties in the Prime Minister’s Office prior to 2009.
From 18 February 2009 to 6 June 2016, Adolf Mwesige was the minister of local government. Even after the cabinet reshuffle on May 27, 2011, he still maintained his position as Minister of Local Government.
He was then appointed Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs in the Ugandan Cabinet on June 6, 2016, and held the position until June 8, 2021. He replaced Crispus Kiyonga‘s place in the cabinet.
On June 8th, 2021, Vincent Ssempijja was appointed by the President and he took over as his replacement in this role.
Mwesige lost in the Bunyangabu county parliamentary seat primary elections with 18,067 votes on the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party ticket. Davis Kamukama won by 22,445 votes and became the NRM flag bearer for the 2021 elections.
He has therefore served as Kabarole District’s elected Member of Parliament for Bunyangabu County since 1996. This was until Bunyangabu District was created in July 2017 by separating Bunyangabu County from Kabarole District.
Achievements and Awards
Adolf Kasaija Mwesige is a member of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) which cohort Museveni deploys to various ministries and government departments.
Adolf is also a member or Secretary to the Board of the Parliamentary Pension Scheme (PPS).
Controversies
On 18th July 2012, Mr Adolf Mwesige as the Minister of Local Government by then tabled before Parliament a proposal for the creation of twenty-five new districts that would cost the taxpayer at least an extra Shs50 billion per year.
This proposal was met with a huge backlash from the public who did not think it was necessary to prioritize the creation of new districts when the existing ones were not in a good state.
Adolf Mwesige and Steven Kagwera, the Burahya County by then openly clashed over the Marriage and Divorce bill.
The controversy began when Mwesige, the primary guest at the belated observance of International Women’s Day, publicly said that he opposed the law. Mwesige claimed that the bill violates men’s integrity; as a result, he would not waste his time travelling to parliament to support it.
Steven Kagwera was at his wits’ end. He suddenly rose to express his unwavering support for the Marriage and Divorce bill. He urged locals not to worry about the bill and to discourage their MPs from opposing it.
He argued that despite the opposition of some lawmakers, a separate law governing cohabitation must be passed. According to Kagwera, some men exploit the low enforcement of the law to sexually assault and then abandon young girls.
In a letter dated 10th June 2021, Adolf Mwesige requested President Yoweri Museveni to appoint him chairperson or member of the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC).
This was after the 2nd October 2020 letter in which he had informed the President of his decision to quit elective politics and serve the government in any capacity that the President would find appropriate to deploy him in.
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