How many youth, workers, older MPs do we need?

Older people – those who are 60 years and above – take up 86 slots out of the 457 persons who sit in Parliament.

Some of these are ex-officio, like Second Deputy Prime Minister Kirunda Kivejinja (81); others are directly elected, like First Deputy Prime Minister Gen Moses Ali (81); and others are Woman MPs, like Dokolo Woman MP Cecilia Ogwal (74).

But for some reason, the view that older people are not sufficiently represented in Parliament is fast gaining traction, and Cabinet last week passed a resolution for five special representatives of older persons to be elected.
This debate is now in Parliament. MPs argued this week that for it to be realised, a constitutional amendment is needed. The proposal is premised on the reasoning that the needs of older persons have not been adequately catered for by the general representatives.

Up until now, older persons have been represented from the village to the district level. Ms Judith Nabakooba, the minister for Information and National Guidance, told Parliament that there is a communication gap between the central and local governments, leaving the interests of older persons unmet.

If approved by Parliament, the five older persons will join other interest groups including – five for the youth, five for the workers and another five for persons with disabilities.

Where is the logic?
Older people constitute a considerable – 4 per cent of the population, according to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2019. The Gender ministry indicates that 92 per cent of older persons in Uganda do not have any form of pension and depend on their children and other well-wishers for survival.

To alleviate suffering in old age, the government came up with the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) programme, through which it transfers Shs25,000 to each older persons aged 80 and above to help them with living expenses. But this often comes too little too late.
On the other hand, however, many older persons who have had flourishing careers in politics, business or other paid employment are very competitive, even beating their youthful compatriots to elective positions.

For instance, whereas there are 86 individuals in Parliament who are 60 years old and above, there are only 22 MPs who are 35 years old and below (the category referred to as youth).
The older people who are involved in politics still find it easier to get elected because, among other factors, they will have accumulated more financial resources to compete in Uganda’s highly monetised elections compared to their youthful counterparts.

Special interest groups’ representation is provided for under Article 32 of the Constitution as a means of overcoming inequalities, and giving a voice to marginalised groups.

On July 9, Workers MP Sam Lyomoki also petitioned the Speaker of Parliament seeking to increase the numbers of representatives for Workers, Persons with Disabilities and Youth representatives from five to 10 per group.

Mr Lyomoki argued that there are decisions that depend on numbers, and that an increase in the number of committees of Parliament means that special representation groups need to have their numbers increased in order to match the committees.

“Even if you don’t increase the numbers of workers, the rest of the Parliament is increasing,” Dr Lyomoki says.
In addition, women are also represented on affirmative action, with each district sending one woman to Parliament following a women-only election by universal adult suffrage.

The number of Woman MPs stands at 123, minus the 12 from new districts created between July 2018 and July 2019 that are yet to vote.

On Wednesday, Constitutional Affairs Minister Ephraim Kamuntu tabled before Parliament, a proposal that if approved, would see the newly created seven cities also elect Woman representatives, which would bring the total number of woman representatives in the 11th Parliament to 143.

With all the looming amendments, the total number of special interest representatives could increase to 178.
In addition to these groups is the army, perhaps the most contentious of the constituencies. Ten army officers appointed by the Army Council have been sitting in Parliament since 1994.

Proponents of army representation in Parliament argue that the Force is part and parcel of the democracy in Uganda and need to be involved more to understand the ideals of democracy. Others have argued that given the history of the country, the army deserves a seat at the table. Along with the newly created constituencies; 15 approved with 31 under consideration, and seven cities bringing in a minimum of two MPs each, the size of the 11th Parliament could bulge up to a tune of about 600 members.

A preserve of the NRM?
When the country voted to take on a multiparty dispensation in 2005, President Museveni stated that the army representatives would remain in the House, but just as listening posts.

Whereas the army and their representatives are constitutionally mandated to be nonpartisan, history in Parliament shows the contrary. Their votes are nearly always in favour of the ruling party. Before any voting happens, therefore, the NRM is assured of 10 votes in the bag.

“They sit on the same side with NRM, they vote with NRM, they think they are NRM. We are the only Parliament in the world where the military seats,” Mr Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the FDC Spokesperson, said.

The last time an army MP abstained from voting was in 2005 during the removal of presidential term limits. That was Col Fred Bogere, and he earned rebukes from the institution. That would be his last term in Parliament and even though he continued to serve in high positions in the army, including as chief of logistics and engineering, he retired in 2016 at the same rank as he was in 2005 when he took the controversial decision.

Again in the lead up to the vote on lifting term limits, Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde, who was then a Brigadier and also an army representative in Parliament, got into trouble for trying to block open voting on the matter.

The ruling group pushed for open voting on the lifting of term limits so that, their critics argued, MPs who had been given Shs5m each to remove the term limits would have no choice but to vote as required in the open.

Gen Tumukunde campaigned against the change during radio talk shows, and the establishment fought back by forcing him to resign as army MP and bringing against him charges of spreading harmful propaganda, which he battled for eight years, much of which he spent locked up at the officers’ mess in Kololo, Kampala.

Lessons were learnt from these incidents, it would appear, and all the army representatives voted in support of lifting the 75-year age limit for presidential candidates in 2017, which gave president Museveni licence to run again in 2021 and beyond.

Ms Sarah Bireete of the Centre for Constitutional Governance believes that the army long outlived the reasons for which it was put in Parliament.

“You have a national institution (the army) that is represented through the Executive (in Parliament); that (having them in Parliament) is fraud of the highest order; it is unacceptable,” Ms Bireete says. We have a multiparty Parliament, where people sit with the ruling party or the Opposition.

‘‘The army is mandated to be nonpartisan, so for them to sit on the ruling party side in the House means they took a decision and are part of the NRM party and they are partisan, which is unconstitutional,” she adds.

In 2019, the Constitutional Court threw out a petition contesting the legality of army representatives in Parliament.
To the NRM, the 10 army slots is welcome bonus. The ruling party already controls about 80 per cent of the parliamentary seats.

Therefore, with numbers at the core of a multiparty system, more MPs means more control for the ruling party.
We sought to understand why it is difficult for Opposition parties to garner more seats on the special interest card.

Former Youth MP for western region and now Ntungamo Municipality legislator Gerald Karuhanga, says State interference and manipulation of electoral makes it difficult for other political parties to compete fairly for the positions.

Effectiveness
The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, has been on the affirmative action ticket as woman representative for Kamuli District since 1989. Health minister Jane Ruth Aceng is eyeing Parliament on the same ticket for Lira District.

Critics of women occupying powerful positions continuing to get elected on affirmative action ticket say this defeats the whole idea of the slots having been created to give women a stepping stone into politics, and not as an end in themselves.

Mr Ssemujju says the special interest groups do not bring anything to the table except blowing up the numbers in Parliament.

“In Kireka, Wakiso District, we had a factory. More than 500 people were fired and I was dealing with the matter. I did not see any Workers MP. Apart from adding numbers to Parliament, they should all go way. Every time the proposal [to increase the numbers] has come, we have opposed it, we just don’t have the numbers,” he says.

Workers’ MP Lyomoki, however, argues that the presence of Workers MPs in the House has changed things, especially in the field of legislation.

“We no longer have bad laws, we are even trying to change the NSSF law. But the labour laws, the Employment Act, has been changed,” Mr Lyomoki said.

On the continued representation of youth as a special interest group, Ms Bireete cites their numerical strength, saying it would be erroneous to refer to them as marginalised.

“Youth can elect a youth president even after the lifting of the age limit. I don’t think given their numerical strength, they qualify to be called a marginalised group under a democratic dispensation. We need to have a lean Parliament composed of qualified people. We cannot say every category should come to Parliament and articulate their issues,” Ms Bireete says.

But Mr Karuhanga disagrees, saying despite being in the youth category, he concentrates on something different while in Parliament.

“You have to be vocal not just to make noise but raise real concerns so that the State can no longer ignore you. I cannot now claim to speak for them because they have representatives,” Mr Karuhanga says.

But if you stop and think about it, who are the majority influencers and voters in Ntungamo Municipality, which Mr Karuhanga represents? They are most likely the youth. He will also have older voters to deal with, and there will be workers and women too. And the composition of all the other constituencies is not different.

How big will Parliament be in the end if each group demands representation and keeps pushing for more numbers?

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