A tale of Nantaba and the last nail in the casket

In a customary animal kingdom, other animals regard the lion as a mischievous enemy because of its grasping instincts. It, however, becomes interesting when one imagines what will become of the lion when nature turns against it such that it becomes one of the hunted - not by the people, but by the very same animals which it used to hunt.

While it’s acrimonious for me to compare feeble members with a “lion” of any sorts, it’s critical that we highlight the sickness of an institution that had given Ugandans the hope to dream. Even though, nature is yet to turn against the “lion” in the animal kingdom, in Parliament, the tables have turned. The hunter is now the hunted. The drama in the approval of Kayunga Woman MP Idah Nantaba as State Minister for Lands has inflicted a permanent scar on the morality of the institution of Parliament.
The rejections, counter-commands

First, the Appointments Committee chaired by Speaker Rebecca Kadaga rejected Ms Nantaba on moral grounds and communicated to the appointing authority. The authority (President Museveni) rejected the decision and begged members to reconsider their decision. In pushing for the approval of this Kayunga Woman, Mr Museveni reasoned that she is the only formidable force that can fight for the common Ugandan’s land rights. After weeks of pushing and pulling, on Tuesday, Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah, (supposedly) with the blessing of Ms Kadaga, convened an Appointments Committee meeting — disregarding Rule 160 (1) of Procedure and cleared lady Nantaba.

The framers of the Rules of Procedure as amended this year, had anticipated a deadlock between the appointing authority and the committee. So, they provided in the rules that where the President’s nominee is not approved by the committee, the President may appeal to the National Assembly — the Committee of the whole House to take a decision on the matter.

For the record, Ugandans have no problem with Ms Nantaba’s appointment. In fact, I don’t even see any invulnerable reason to warrant Ms Nantaba’s rejection. In any case, Ms Nantaba won’t be the only minister with disputed morals. The only problem with her approval is Mr Oulanyah’s impunity in the matter. Whether Ms Kadaga set up Mr Oulanyah or not, it was a ludicrous decision to approve Ms Nandaba in disregard of the Rules of Procedure.

It is a scandal for the committee members to summersault on their earlier decision because President Museveni wanted them to do so. Mr Oulanyah, who claims to be an encyclopedia on Rules of Procedure, should have advised the members to respect these rules. What’s the relevance of these rules if they cannot be followed?
Rules ‘defiled’?

The “defilement” of these rules has proven to skeptics that the Executive is now in charge of Parliament. Forget the recent gaffes in Ms Kadaga’s leadership; this Nantaba saga has clearly punched huge holes into the 9th Parliament. To be specific, the institution of Parliament, which is supposed to check the work of the government, as enshrined in the doctrine of the separation of powers, is increasingly behaving like a “bewitched” organisation.

When you critically mull over what is going on in Parliament these days, you will be forgiven to think that this institution is enchanted. Our Parliament has sunk so low that majority of the MPs have become pathetic. In fact, some people think we have “chameleons” in the House yet others still think these are pangs of evolution.

Our MPs have become greedy, unpredictable and easily swayed whenever they are told to do so. This is the sad part of this political maneuvering we see in the 9th Parliament.

The previous slip-ups in the budgeting process and U-turns in the fight against corruption notwithstanding, Ugandans trust Parliament and, by and large, they do so with reason. This is why it’s not yet too late to make things better. The reason why we see this impunity is the failure by the 9th Parliament to listen to the wise counsel.

During the amendment of the Rules of Procedure, some of us begged members to open the appointments committee to the public scrutiny but they refused. This is why they are now smuggling ministers.

For fear that a closed committee erodes the powers of Parliament to express itself on appointments that require Parliamentary approval; the Fox Odoi committee had recommended that Rules 139(2) and 144 be accordingly amended to allow the proceedings of the same committee to be open to the public and to allow debate on the report of the committee by the entire House.

Discarded proposal
Under the proposed amendments the names of persons nominated for appointment by the President were to be published in a newspaper with the widest coverage for the public to submit their memoranda. But they owlishly vetoed this harmless proposal.
The kind of political maneuvering in Ms Nantaba’s epic story is what made former Speaker Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi (now Vice President) a hostage of sorts and marked his leadership in the 7th and 8th parliaments as undependable, insincere, useless and toothless.

When Ms Kadaga and Mr Oulanyah took over leadership in May last year, Ugandans expected to see a biting Parliament as opposed to a spineless assembly with hypocrites, posturing in the middle of a crisis.

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Flowers: Rebecca Kadaga
Speaker Rebecca Kadaga on Monday attacked Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird whom she accused of attacking Uganda’s human rights record in respect to sexual minorities. In a stinging retort to Mr Baird’s statement at the ongoing 127th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Quebec, Ms Kadaga told off Mr Baird and reminded him that Uganda was neither a colony nor a protectorate of Canada and as such her sovereignty, societal and cultural norms were to be respected. For defending Uganda from malicious attacks, Madam Speaker, we give you flowers.

Frowns: Jacob Oulanyah
On Tuesday, Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah chaired the parliamentary Appointments Committee that approved Ms Idah Nantaba as Minister of State for Lands in total disregard of the Rules of Procedure. Oulanyah tried to defend his actions quoting Rule 156 (8) whose import had already been overtaken by events in this Nandatab saga. Ms Oulanyah should have advised the President to follow Rule 160 (1) but he chose to play politics. Whether Ms Kadaga instructed him to convene this meeting or not, Mr Oulanyah had the opportunity to advise as a custodian of these rules. Frowns for you Bwana Oulanyah.