Respect Parliament, Oulanyah tells Executive

Parliament. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Jacob Oulanyah, has said the Executive should respect Parliament.
Mr Oulanyah’s comments coincided with President Museveni’s remarks in which he likened Parliament to a bus park.

On a day Parliament reconvened for the first time in 2018, Mr Oulanyah said it would be good practice for the Executive to recognise the statutory roles of other institutions in governance.

“Respect this institution. We cannot sit here, spend people’s time, taking decisions that are simply ignored,” he said on Tuesday during plenary.

“It is not only bad politics [to ignore recommendations Parliament makes], it is also bad manners,” the Deputy Speaker added.
Earlier, Igara East MP Michael Mawanda had asked Mr Oulanyah to assure the House that a motion the legislators were about to vote on would be respected by the Executive.

“What will be the effect of us debating this motion, at the end of the day we make resolutions that will not be respected by the Executive?” Mr Mawanda asked.

“In the Ninth Parliament, we did debate a motion like this, in regard to Umeme… We did resolve that Umeme’s contract be terminated but up to now, it has not been terminated,” he said.

UNBS probe
Mr Mawanda’s concern was prompted by a proposal for a motion of Parliament to investigate Uganda National Bureau of Standards’ (UNBS) alleged mismanagement of the Pre-export Verification of Conformity (PVoC).

Mr Kenneth Lubogo, the chairperson of the Tourism, Trade and Industry Committee of Parliament, moved the motion.
He said the way PVoC was handled; many Ugandans’ health could be impacted on through exposure to unsafe imports.
Bufumbira East MP Nsaba Buturo seconded the motion.

Mr Lubogo’s concern follows reports that UNBS has appointed JEVIC as the sole inspector of used motor vehicles imported into Uganda from Japan, yet JEVIC is a dealer in used motor vehicles from Japan.

On the House’s recommendations, Mr Oulanyah said there two types of resolutions passes. The first, Mr Oulanyah said, are dictated by the Constitution and once passed, are mandatory while the second one is advisory.

On Tuesday, President Museveni said Parliament is like a bus park where everyone comes simply to talk but the actual service delivery and allocation of resources do not take place there thus electing a person who does not belong to the ruling NRM is suicide to electorates.

Mr Museveni made the remarks in Ntungamo District while campaigning for Mr Moses Kahima, the NRM party candidate in the Ruhaama County by-election.

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