The Speaker of Uganda’s Rebecca Kadaga (in featured photo) has attacked the Executive arm of Government for presenting half-baked draft bills to Parliament, noting that this behaviour has affected the mandate of the August House.
Kadaga made the remarks today during the State of Nation address at Kampala Serena Hotel in which she called on Ministries to consult with the public before tabling the bills on the floor.
She also expressed displeasure at failure by Government to harmonise on the Kampala Capital City Authority Bill, saying the debacle would have been solved had Government made consultations with the stakeholders.
Kadaga however noted that the 10th Parliament registered tremendous growth in the 3rd session attributing the improvements to realignment of parliament program as well as improved attendance of committees and plenary by MPs.
The Speaker said 26 bills were enacted in the 3rd session compared to 11 bills and 16 bills enacted in the first and second session respectively.
However, four bills were withdrawn.
“I want to express my disappointment in a number of areas; there was an obvious manifestation of lack of adequate preparedness and consultation of stake holders and this wasted a lot of Parliament’s time. I am particularly disturbed by failure of Government to process beyond the second reading the Kampala Capital City Authority Amendment Bill since 2015,” Kadaga said.
“In future, bills requiring Parliament consideration should be adequately researched upon and stakeholders involved by various ministries before cabinet approval and subsequent submission to Parliament,” she added in a rather warning tone.
During the session, Parliament handled 16 loan requests, 23 resolutions, 208 questions responded to, 51 ministerial policy statements tabled, 45 committee reports and 11 MPs made statements.
The Speaker also announced that since the MPs are gearing up for the 2021 elections, their concentration on legislative duties will be limited and asked Government to table all business it deems important within the first two months of the forthcoming Financial Year.
Kadaga also asked the Executive to respect the Supreme Court ruling and have electoral reforms tabled early enough to allow the Electoral Commission budget and prepare for elections.
“The fourth session has commenced and that means that effectively Parliament will in reality transact business within a limited period; this is because the road map for the next elections is already out. MPs are usually uncomfortable around this time and they focus on what is happening in their constituencies. It is therefore necessary that the Executive brings forward all the business it deems important within the first two months so that it can be processed by Committees and they are later considered by the House,” said Kadaga
