Parliament-Watch-Bulletin_Mid-Term-Audit-2014

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A Mid Term Citizens’ Assessment of the 9th ParliamentIn its first session, the 9th Parliament was able to pass up to 11 bills and adopted 23 bills that were not concluded by the8th parliament . So far the 9th Parliament has passed some of the following legislations; the Petroleum (Exploration,Development and Production) Act 2013,The Petroleum (Refining, Gas processing and Conversion, Transportationand Storage) Act 2013, The Institution of Traditional or Cultural Leaders Act 2011, the prohibition and preventionof torture Act 2012, the supplementary appropriations Act, the Industrial Property Act 2012, which seeks to protectUgandan inventions, creations or designs of inventors operating within Uganda among others.However some of the bills before parliament and others that were passed are still subject to scrutiny as they aredeemed unconstitutional or barely meet standard 1 of the citizens’ manifesto. It is also noted that several Membersof Parliament demonstrated ignorance and either made meaningless contributions or desisted from participating indebate in parliament. More worrying is the fact that the levels of absenteeism by Members of Parliament were high,leading to Parliament lagging behind on its targets. It is thus recommended that:• Parliament adheres to the Human Rights Checklist while deliberating on laws and on their subsequentpassage• Parliament should endeavor to respect its own rules and procedures while legislating and desist from actingin a manner that could be viewed as emotive. In particular the two thirds majority should be observed beforeany law is passed.• Parliament should also ensure that individuals who do not contribute to debate when a law is beingdiscussed are not allowed to participate in its passage by voting• The Business Committee should list all pending bills carried over from the 8th Parliament & prioritize themon the proposed business schedule for the next session of the 9th Parliament in order to align its work planwith Standards in the CPPU.• Session Committees should be more vigilant in pursuing bills relevant to their docket & use their mandate toinitiate Private Members’ bills.• Increase sharing of information and enhance knowledge and the skills base for MPs on the how-toundertake gender audits, budget analysis & application of human rights standards when reviewing billsunder their portfolio.• The 9th Parliament should take leadership as expected under Standard No. 11 to initiate the discussionon the reduction of the size of Parliament in order to make it more cost effective and efficient. A debate onthe composition of Parliament should begin in the Second Session of Parliament so that relevantConstitutional amendments are undertaken & the review of the electoral laws is prioritized by the 9thParliament before the end of 2014.• Finally, Parliament should listen to Citizens concerns over certain legislations such as the Public OrderManagement Act, the NGO Act, and the Anti Pornography Act and repeal them as has been demanded bypopular citizen groups and organizations.3.1.2 Representation and ParticipationThis assessment finds that Parliament has done a commendable job in the fight against corruption. The differentAccountability Committees such as PAC and COSASE have not only labored to expose but also in some instancesfollowed through the culprits to ensure their prosecution. Parliament has been credited mainly for investing andexposing the excesses of the executive and areas where public officers failed to pay due diligence to protect Uganda’sinterests which had led to the country losing billions of shillings in questionable compensations or outright theft.38It is also notable that the different parliamentary committees provide MPs with more opportunities to participateeffectively in the business of Parliament compare to the House sessions where a member has only three minutes withinwhich to submit his / her comments on an issue on the floor of the House. However, regular attendance remainedUGMP September 2014
A Mid Term Citizens’ Assessment of the 9th Parliamentelusive in the case of some MPs and the major concern was also on substantive participation. The bad practice ofsome MPs signing in with the Clerks and then leaving the sessions shortly after was reported. It was also found thatmajority of MPs agree that the size of Parliament has reached unsustainable levels and has become a cost burden tothe tax payer without necessarily increasing effective representation.It is however notable that Parliament is faced with some limitations that cannot allow it to effectively represent citizeninterests. To start with, the expectations by Citizens of their Members of Parliament still seem to be at a variancewith the roles and responsibilities of MPs. Several MPs interviewed for this assessment complained of continuedrequests for money, and other handouts to meet school fees and social obligations. This has not only encroached onMPs salaries but also made them become vulnerable to bribes from more powerful individuals to meet their voters’expectations. In addition, MPs have invested more time pursuing personal opportunities and dodged Parliamentarysessions, thus limiting the extent to which they can represent their electorates.In addition, there are actions that have been taken by Parliament such as purchase of “i-pads” for MPs and offeringover 100,000,000 shillings for purchase of vehicles. Both expenses have been widely criticized by Ugandans fromvarious shades as being insensitive to poor tax payers.The practice of making parliamentary decisions in party caucuses especially by the ruling party (NRM) has not onlycrippled objective debate but also as a result led to bad laws sailing through Parliament.It is thus recommended that:• The Speaker of Parliament should prevail over the Party Chief Whip to desist from allowing Parliamentarybusiness to be decided upon in the NRM caucus. Caucusing and collective action should only be encouragedthrough the various Parliamentary Forums as platforms for learning and peer support.• Increase on the intensity of the Parliament outreach program so that more Citizens are reached andunderstand the work and operations of Parliament• Parliament should work with Civil Society to conduct citizen education for increased public and voterawareness about actual role of a Member of Parliament and the institution of Parliament in order toharmonize people’s expectations with the constitutional role and mandate of Parliament.• The Clerk’s office & Business Committee should strictly monitor MPs attendance & participation in plenarysessions & Committee meetings and publish this information on a regular basis.• The Speaker of Parliament should regularly raise the issue of participation and representation on the floorof Parliament and ensure that disciplinary measures are taken for absenteeism without appropriate noticeand permission.• The Government Chief Whip and Leader of Government business should be carefully selected as these arethe chief mobilizes of ministers and MPs. The purpose is to ensure that the MPs holding these positionshave the experience, knowledge and the right skills-mix to effectively mobilize MPs to participate in plenaryand committee sessions.• The review of the policies and laws on representation should be prioritized with the aim of working outa new formula for equitable representation to reduce the size of Parliament and as a strategy for increasingthe effectiveness and efficiency of Parliament. With 112 districts, it would be sufficient for each one of themto have just one representative in Parliament• Appointments of MPs to Select Committees/ Ad hoc Committee should comply with all dimensions ofrepresentation including the minimum 1/3 principle for gender representation.UGMP September 201439
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