The craze of new constituencies

Not again, one would have thought. It is now routine and quite predictable that every election eve, our rulers toss around new pieces of electoral cud: Parliamentary constituencies. Some citizens celebrate. It is an opportunity for someone they know or a close relative to get into Parliament and gain access to state spoils.

Others rile against what is undoubtedly a despicable practice that has greatly imperilled the value of Parliament. It is a huge drain on the national Treasury.

A Parliament house initially designed to house perhaps no more than 200 MPs, is now set to take in more than 500. Geographically, we are a very small country. The population has shot through the roof in recent years, but hardly warrants a Parliament with as big numbers as the USwith its more than 300 million citizens and a large swath of land.
More important, we have a minuscule economy with limited national revenue yet critical goods and services, from health and education to electricity, roads and water, urgently need massive investment to match the ever-growing demand.

The irony is that creating new constituencies, much like local government administrative units, is often rationalised on a disingenuous claim to improving services to the people. This is most absurd.

The role of an MP has been greatly distorted to mean the chief development officer of the constituency they represent. It is the MP to ensure road and bridge construction, electricity and water supply, functioning health centres, schools, etc.

But the primary duties of an MP are to make laws and exercise oversight over the Executive through undertaking accountability measures.

The job of serving the public through provision of goods and services belongs to the Executive branch through its myriad ministries, departments and agencies as well as local governments that exercise devolved Executive authority in their respective locales.

A rather self-serving argument is that MPs serve as lobbyists in getting goods and services to their constituents. Why should an MP lobby the Executive to have a road constructed? Public works and providing social services has to proceed through rationalisation and systematic policies based on need and prudence, not one MP’s close ties with the Executive.

Mr Museveni has repeatedly stated he wants citizens to vote only MPs who will not ask question of his misrule or attempt to cast a spotlight on the misdeeds of his government. He sees principled and independent-minded MPs as enemies in the same way he construes the idea of Opposition as some kind of sacrilege to his rule.

But if Mr Museveni wants only MPs who sing praises rather than ask questions, why not just abandon the pretence of citizens voting their representatives and instead let the ruler appoint whoever he wants to be an MP?

This, of course, speaks to the straightforward challenge I have put to Mr Museveni before: Just go bareknuckle and rule encumbered. This means abolishing elections and shutdown Parliament indefinitely.

Surely, this will demonstrate that Mr Museveni is indeed the Ssabalwanyi (chief fighter) that he claims to be and not a cowardly ruler, who uses institutions of democracy as mere facades.

One can aptly pushback against my case for the role of MPs by arguing that I am speaking in normative terms and not dealing with the reality staring at us. To be sure, the current reality is not some natural product or an inexorable outcome.

Today’s vulgarised politics came from a historical process involving deliberate steps and strategies that led us to the tragedy we face today.

The initial drive for building a bloated Parliament (and Cabinet) was Museveni’s dual-goal of placing Parliament under his control and using it as a site for buying support across the country.

The proliferation of constituencies initially was a gerrymandering act through which to get to Parliament as many supine characters as well create openings for individuals who would otherwise fill up Opposition ranks.

In fact, quite a few of constituencies created in recent years have gone to individuals who were previously in Opposition, but who crossed to the ruling behemoth as the only sure way to entering Parliament.
With time though, Museveni no longer needs to manufacture majorities in Parliament through creation of new constituencies. He has enough cover. Yet, once the path was opened, it has proved difficult to reverse.

Local elite and hangers-on have continued to press forward with demand that a sub-county be a Parliamentary constituency. Pressured to follow through with previous precedents, a vulnerable Mr Museveni cannot pushback.

Mr Khisa is assistant professor at North Carolina State University (USA).
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