Speaker Anita Among (pictured) has tasked the Prime Minister to offer Parliament an explanation why President Museveni has refused to sign into law the Markets Bill, 2021 or return it back to Parliament for reconsideration as required by the law.
The Speaker raised the concern during the plenary sitting where she tasked the Prime Minister to furnish Parliament with an explanation as to why the Markets Bill hasn’t been assented to or returned by the President to Parliament.
“We also have bills that were passed by this house like the Market Bill, the prescribed dates have passed. We haven’t gotten a response from the President whether they have been assented to, we don’t know. And if they aren’t assented to, what is the reason? So can we have that feed back because the sponsor of that comes to my office everyday seeking for her bill?” asked Speaker.
It isn’t the first time that the Speaker has raised concern over the delays by the President to sign into law the Markets Bill, 2021, having raised a similar matter in September 2022, following a concern raised by Ethel Naluyima (Wakiso DWR) who revealed that the delay in signing into law the Market Bill has left local governments grappling with the management of markets in their districts.
Article 91(3) of the Constitution mandates The President to sign the bill within thirty days after a bill is presented to him or her— (a) assent to the bill; (b) return the bill to Parliament with a request that the bill or a particular provision of it be reconsidered by Parliament; or (c) notify the Speaker in writing that he or she refuses to assent to the bill.
Further in Article 91(7) Where the President fails to do any of the acts specified in clause (3) of this article within the period prescribed in that clause, the President shall be taken to have assented to the bill and at the expiration of that period, the Speaker shall cause a copy of the bill to be laid before Parliament and the bill shall become law without the assent of the President.
It is worth noting that the Markets Bill, 2021 was passed by Parliament on 22nd October 2021, meaning that the bill has been in the shelves of state house for one year and 13days.
The Markets Bill, 2021 is a private member’s Bill that aims to reform the law relating to establishment and control of markets in Uganda; to provide for the establishment and management of public and private markets; to provide for licensing of private markets; to provide for registration of markets and vendors; to provide for levying and collection of market fees and to repeal the Markets Act, Cap. 94.
Speaker Among also urged the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee to expedite the scrutiny of the legal Aid Bill, 2022 whose 45 days timeline will elapse on 12th November 2022, following its first reading on 28th September 2022 and the Employment Amendment Bill 2022 that was first read before Parliament on 21st September 2022 and referred to the Committee of Gender, Labour and Social Development for scrutiny.
“I therefore ask the Chairpersons responsible to ensure that all these two bills are before this house before this house for consideration and this parliament as we have always said we shall be judged by its output and our output is determined by what we pass in this house. So when we relax as presiding officers by not giving you timelines, then we shall not be doing our work,” said Among.
