Parliament-Watch-Bulletin_Mid-Term-Audit-2014

Recommendations

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A Mid Term Citizens’ Assessment of the 9th ParliamentStandard 9: Institute measures to make parliamentary decisions consultative and accountable to citizens in a bid to increaserelevance and ownership of such decisions.Constitutional & other Legalobligations of the institution ofParliament Article 1 of 1995 constitution stipulates that all power belongs to the people and the people can excise this power directlyor indirectly through their representatives Article 79 of the Constitution obligates and empowers Parliament to make laws and promote democratic governance ofUganda among others on behalf of the citizens of Uganda. This means MPs are responsible to their electorates besidesbeing accountable for whatever transpires in the parliamentary chambersCitizens’ anticipated actions fromthe 9 th ParliamentParliamentary own actions Implement effective andcomprehensive Parliamentaryoutreaches in order to take theparliament closer to the people; Review or amend legislation andmake resolutions to increase andstrengthen parliament- publicinterface; Institute parliamentary open days; Establish a dedicatedparliamentary TV and radiostation with live broadcasts; Establishplatformcitizens;an interactive ICTto engage with theKey findings of specific actionstaken by the 9 th ParliamentFindings:The 9th Parliamentfollowing actions;undertook the Conducted Four Parliamentaryoutreaches to various sub regions toenhance public participation inparliamentary affairs Initiated an on-going process toestablish independent ParliamentaryTV and radio that will furtherenhance public participation inparliamentary affairsScores Gaps Recommendations The 9 th Parliament has not yetofficially gazettedParliamentary open days forthe public to participate andhas not yet committed toInternational Open Parliamentdeclaration. The current parliamentary ICTplatform is not interactive forthe citizens to effectivelyparticipate, follow andcontribute to the parliamentaryproceedings and debate Review the Official SecretsAct of 1964 to cascadeopenness and transparency,and provide sufficient checksand balances and mitigateabuse of office andcorruption. Expedite the processes ofestablishing requisite andappropriate institutionalframeworks forparliamentary Radio and TVbroadcasts and make ICTplatform interactive. Parliament should sign andbe party to open parliamentdeclaration. Conduct field oversight visits andengage citizen groups to obtainfeedback and evidence of policyand program implementation.Parliamentary partnerships Findings GOOD The public has been denied some Establishment of32UGMP September 2014
A Mid Term Citizens’ Assessment of the 9th Parliamentcitizens; Conduct field oversight visits andengage citizen groups to obtainfeedback and evidence of policyand program implementation.Parliamentary partnerships Findings GOOD The public has been denied some Establishment of Develops a mechanism of workingwith civil society organizations toincrease citizens’ constructiveengagement with parliament. Develop mechanism and makepublic for citizens’ interest groupsandconstituency delegations tovisit parliament; Parliament signs a commitment tothe Open Parliament Declaration. Grants easy access to parliamentaryinformation Signed a partnership MOUs withCivil Society to strengthencollaboration on parliamentarymatters Received close to 60 petitions fromcitizens’ associations, individuals,civil society, faith basedorganization and political parties. Responded to at least 20 petitionsin the last three yearsinformation for instance theprudent process for loanacquisition based onparliamentary consultations anddiscussion of oil productionsharingchallengeagreements remain arequisite and appropriateinstitutional frameworksto enhance the capabilityof citizens to participatein decision makingThe Citizens survey reveals that findings from the studied populations reveal that only 24.2% of the studied population feels that Parliament effectively consulted andinvolved the public on issues of national and local importance while 40.4% disagreed. Also only 14.1% indicated that Parliament had undertaken outreaches in theirlocal area and instituted public access to parliament systems and facilities while 31% responded in the negativeStandard 10: Decisively review the special interest group representation in light of a multiparty dispensation and start on aprocess that will increase their relevance in political party structures while phasing them out of affirmative actionrepresentation.Constitutional &other Legalobligations of theinstitution ofParliamentCitizens’ anticipated actions fromthe 9 th Parliament Article 78 (1) of the Constitution provides for the Composition of Parliament to include members directly elected to representconstituencies, one woman representative for every district, such numbers of representatives of the army, youth, workers, persons withdisabilities and other groups as Parliament may determine; Other constitutional guarantees are provided for in Article 36 under the protection of minorities. The article states that, “Minorities havea right to participate in decision making processes, and their views and interests shall be taken into account in the making of nationalplans and programmes Clause (2) of Article 78 provides that upon the expiration of a period of ten years after the commencement of this Constitution andthereafter, every five years, Parliament shall review the representation under clause (District Woman Members of Parliament and thearmy, youth and other marginalized group representations) for the purposes of retaining, increasing or abolishing any suchrepresentation and any other matter incidental to it.Key findings of specific actions takenby the 9 th ParliamentScores Gaps RecommendationsUGMP September 201433
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