The deputy speaker of parliament Jacob Oulanyah has asked members of parliament to consider domesticating chemical weapons convention to decrease on misuse of chemical science. Oulanyah made the call while addressing a sensitization workshop on the prohibition of the Development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons held at parliament.

He said that chemical hazards pose a wide range of health and physical hazards, adding that some have immediate and delayed effects to the population hence need for the law to control such dangerous chemical weapons. He said that a chemical attack would come without warning and cause difficulty in breathing and eye irritation. He said that as a country, there is a need to domesticate the convention on prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons by parliament  the passing the Toxic Chemical Prohibition Control bill which is still lying in parliament.

Oulanyah said that the country is faced with challenges of the misuse of acids which has destroyed people’s lives. He said that the number of acid victims in Uganda is rising every other day and this calls for control and management of transportation, storage and use of chemical acids. He asked that MPs reflect on the misuse of chemical science and pass the Toxic Chemical Prohibition Control bill, which is before parliament, before October 2015.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, labour and social Development Pius Bigirimana said that if this law is passed by parliament, the chemical use in manufacturing firms and schools will be regulated and licensed so as not to be misused by terrorists.