Bureaucrats need to respect Parliament, elected leaders

Stung by the report of the Committee on Statutory Agencies and State Enterprises (Cosase), former URA lawyer now working at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda, Mr Ali Sekatawa, has hopped from one media house to another deriding Parliament. The Cosase report has, among others, recommended that the beneficiaries of the Shs6 billion cash bonanza should refund the money and that the IGG should investigate them further.
Parliament last week unanimously adopted the report of the Committee. But Mr Sekatawa, who has threatened to run to court over the matter, appeared on NTV on Thursday and Capital Gang programme on Capital FM radio on Saturday, where he belittled Parliament. One wonders why he should resort to the media, but it was clear that Mr Sekatawa had assigned himself as spokesman for all the oil cash bonaza beneficiaries. His aim was to try to portray Parliament negatively by justifying their actions of picking taxpayers money illegally.
To Sekatawa, Parliament has no moral authority and capacity to investigate him and other beneficiaries. One wonders what moral authority he had to pocket millions of taxpayers’ money for a job he is paid well to do while, for instance, Judges who make judgments that save the country billions of shillings never ask for a handshake. In all his media appearances, Mr Sekatawa sounded uninformed about the functions of the Legislature. He represents a big problem. Bureaucrats have increasingly encroached on political power which has resulted in resulted in the undermining of political leaders and political decisions. In other words, some top bureaucrats want to be larger than the political leaders.
I would like to encourage Sekatawa and those who think like him to find time and read former American President Woodrow Wilson’s seminal paper on the political –administration dichotomy titled: The Study of Public Administration published in June 1887.
Woodrow was both a professor of Public Administration and a politician and his paper has become the foundation for the study of Public Administration. Sekatawa must understand that political leadership is different from administrative leadership. The two are distinct and cannot be fused. Separation of power is beyond the Executive, Parliament and the Judiciary. There is also separation of powers by the elected and appointed officials.
The appointed officials are checked by the elected leaders and it cannot be the other way round. The technical officials can offer advice to the elected leaders. Their advice is, however, not binding. It’s the political decisions that are binding. Therefore, when a public servant publicly undermines Legislature, he/she is saying that elected leaders are subordinate to the bureaucrats. Indeed, in our context, we have increasingly witnessed institutions individualised and individuals institutionalised. Some bureaucrats behave like an institutionalised individuals capable of undermining constitutional institutions such as Parliament!
How did we come to this? Wealth is power. Most wealthy people tend to despise others who have less. Many top bureaucrats are wealthy and have invaded the political realm by being king makers - sponsoring political candidates. They also bask in their security of tenure and the wealth of information in they have attained over time. They believe the interviews they sit in order to qualify for their jobs is a more superior way of being in the position they are in as opposed to elected leaders, who are recruited through campaigns.
Then there is this competition among peers. Some people who are in the academia, business and administration see MPs as their age mates and tend to turn the competition into a negative tool for undermining each other. This is worsened by the fact that any bureaucrat can become a politician if they so wish - because it’s an open recruitment process while politicians may not easily join bureaucracy because it’s a process under the control of bureaucrats. This makes bureaucrats see themselves as superior to politicians.
The bureaucrats have also benefitted from the lapse in the media, academia and civil society activists to paint politicians as dirty.
While bureaucrats are in charge of money and make decisions that directly affect ordinary people; the media has put more attention to the politician than the bureaucrats. And even then, they are more preoccupied with the top politicians yet the political establishment is starts right from the president up to grass root.
Because of the focus on the elected few, the character of bureaucrats has remained hidden hence the perception that they are clean and better than the elected leaders.
That is how Mr Sekatawa can publicly deride Legislature moreover on a matter he has been found wanting.
There is a serious need for enhanced respect within the political establishment so that they are able to wield their authority and exercise effective control over the bureaucrats.
A politician is hired by people on the streets and in the villages so it’s their voters interests that they must represent vigorously. The role of Parliament to make reports like that of Cosase was given by the people - a fact which Mr Sekatawa should be aware of.

Mr Obore is the Parliament director of communication and public affairs.