Multipartism killing House debate - report

The 9th Parliament in a recent session. A new report on the effectiveness of law making and oversight in Parliament has revealed that although legislative activities have increased from the 6th to the 8th parliaments, the introduction of multipartism is killing the quality of legislation. PHOTO BY Geoffrey Sseruyange. 

By Isaac Imaka
 

 

In Summary

A report sponsored by the Democratic Governance Facility says the introduction of multipartism is killing the quality of legislation as it discourages MPs from making more legislative amendments.

PARLIAMENT

For any robust democracy in the world, a strong Legislature is an important cornerstone. In the cases of Uganda, Parliament’s challenge has been to overcome a history of Executive dominance that dates back to the early protectorate period.

To help overcome the country’s history of political instability, the 1995 Constitution gave the House greater powers to restrain the Executive and in particular, two core missions for all legislatures, Parliament’s law-making and accountability functions were strengthened.

However, a new report has revealed that although legislative activities have increased from the 6th to the 8th parliaments, the introduction of Multipartism is killing the quality of legislation because it discourages Members of Parliament from making more legislative amendments.

Comparative analysis
Sponsored by the Democratic Governance Facility, the report titled Performance & Effectiveness of Law making and Oversight: The 6th to 8th Ugandan Parliaments, examines quantitative measures of the House’s performance during its first 15 years after these constitutional changes.

In its comparison of the 6th (1996-2001), 7th (2001-2006) and 8th (2006-2011) parliaments by their five-year terms, the report shows that more Bills were passed during the one-party system than in the multiparty.

It also shows that parliaments that have been vocal (6th and 9th) attract the attention of the Executive which blocks most of the legislative amendments. “In the Movement system, Parliament persuaded government ministers to make more changes in legislation, especially in the 7th Parliament,” said Mr Hippo Twebaze, a legislative researcher who co-authored the report.

In the 8th Parliament, which was the first under a multi-party system, the report shows that of the 109 Bills that were tabled, only 93 were passed. Yet in the 7th Parliament, 106 Bills were tabled and 104 got passed. In the 6th Parliament, 85 were passed out of the 102 Bills tabled. “This would suggest that when a legislature is high profile, the Executive will always read ill intentions in whatever move MPs make and will intervene in the making of the legislations and prevent the amendments. It happened in the 6th Parliament and it’s happening in the ninth,” Mr Twebaze says.

A total of 317 Bills were introduced from the 6th to the 8th Parliament and 282 were passed. It also notes that male MPs tabled many private members Bills compared to their female counterparts and overall, most Bills were tabled by middle aged legislators, between the age of 40 and 49. “On average, 21 Bills were introduced per year across the three Parliaments and the length of time it took a Bill to pass varied significantly although duration lasted much longer in the 8th Parliament by comparison with the 6th and 7th, suggesting that the presence of parties may result in longer consideration of Bills,” the report reads. The report, which took 18 months, was carried out with reference to data from records available in the Office of the Clerk to Parliament, the Office of the Deputy Clerk for Legislative Services, the Hansard and the Gazette and treasury and memoranda came from the Office of the Accountant General in the Ministry of Finance.

NRM legislators, the report shows, initiated most of the Bills that were later passed. There was a distinct regular decline in the number of lapsed bills—the 8th producing only half the number of lapsed bills as the 6th Parliament.

NRM dominance
About the 9th Parliament, the report notes that with a two-thirds majority and insistence on strong party discipline, the NRM was able to dominate the 8th Parliament. However, in the first years of the 9th, many NRM legislators again rebelled against government positions on several issues. However, the ninth Parliament is accused of underperforming in terms of legislative process and resources. “They are qualitatively and quantitatively better than their predecessor parliaments yet they do they perform under par save for the budget oversight,” Mr Twebaze added.

According to the report, the 9th Parliament had, by March, passed 20 Bills; answered 23 questions for oral answers, and 113 matters of national importance were handled in the first session followed by 6 petitions.
In order to improve on performance, Mr Twebaze said the 9th Parliament should adopt the 6th and 7th parliaments’ method of selecting committee chairpersons.

“Committee leadership and membership should be based on qualification and not what party whips prefer,” he said. “And Parliament should find a ways of recording all their committee proceedings and oversight activities in committees to help in tracking its performance of committees.”

UGANDA’S PARLIAMENTS SINCE INDEPENDENCE

First Parliament (1962–1963). This body was then known as the Legislative Council (LEGCO). It had 92 members and was presided over, as Speaker, by Sir John Bowes Griffin, a British lawyer and former Ugandan Chief Justice.


Second Parliament (1963–1971). During this period, Milton Obote, abrogated the constitution and declared himself President in 1966. The Speaker during the 2nd Parliament was Narendra M. Patel, a Ugandan of Indian descent.


This Parliament ended when Idi Amin, overthrew Milton Obote’s government in January 1971.


Third Parliament (1979–1980). This was a new legislative body known as the Uganda Legislative Council. With initial membership of 30, the members were later increased to 120. This was chaired by Professor Edward Rugumayo.


Fourth Parliament (1980–1985). The Speaker of the 4th parliament was Francis Butagira, a Harvard-trained lawyer. The 4th Parliament ended when Gen Okello overthrew the government in 1995.


Fifth Parliament (1986–1996). Known as the National Resistance Council, this was established following the end of the 1981-1985 guerrilla war. Started with 38 historical members of the National Resistance Movement and National Resistance Army and the Speaker Mr Yoweri Museveni, who also concurrently served as the President.


Sixth Parliament (1996–2001). The 6th Parliament was constituted during the one-party rule (NRM). James Wapakhabulo and Francis Ayume served as speakers.


Seventh Parliament (2001–2006). The 7th Parliament was presided over by Mr Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, the current Vice President of Uganda. The most controversial legislation passed during this period was the amendment of the Constitution to remove Presidential term limits.


Eighth Parliament (2006–2011). This was a continuation of the 7th Parliament, with Edward Ssekandi as Speaker and Rebecca Kadaga as Deputy Speaker.




Ninth Parliament (2011–Present). The 9th Parliament is president over by Rebecca Kadaga as Speaker, and Jacob Oulanyah as Deputy Speaker.

Bills in the 9th Parliament

No Title Bill Type Bill Year
1 The Excise Tariff Amendment 2011
2 The Finance Amendment 2011
3 Stamps Amendment 2011
4 The Value Added Tax Amendment 2011
5 The income Tax Amendment 2011
6 The supplementary Appropriations New 2011
7 Appropriations New 2011
8 The Companies New 2009
9 The Prohibition and Prevention of Torture New 2010
10 The National Meteorological Authority New 2010
11 The Transfer of Convicted Offenders New 2007
12 The excise Tariff Amendment 2012
13 The Value Added Tax Amendment 2012
14 The Income Tax Amendment 2012
15 Supplementary Appropriations New 2012
16 National Council for Older Persons New 2010
17 The Finance Amendment 2012
18 Communication Regulatory Authority New 2012
19 The East African excise New 2012
20 The Petroleum New 2012