Parliament resolutions ignored as Ugandans bear the burden

Government has a liking for casually brushing off parliamentary resolutions on matters as essential as famine, corruption and abuse of law on the pretext that they are merely advisory and that government is under no obligation to enforce them.
Before Parliament broke off for a mini-recess, MPs put aside their political differences and approved a bi-partisan motion urging the government to declare a state of emergency in famine-ravaged districts in Teso and Karamoja sub-regions.
MP after MP recounted distressing stories from famine-infested areas ranging from locals having termites for lunch to a pregnant woman dying after falling off a mango tree in a desperate search for fruit to feed on.
The thinking behind MP Monica Amoding’s motion was that with a Parliament motion urging the government to declare a state of emergency, the Executive would be jolted into enforcing radical measures that would, at least in the short and medium term, alleviate the suffering of Ugandans in these areas.
But the distressing tales were not heart-wrenching enough to push the government into action.

Though it is not the duty of the government to put food on the table of able-bodied Ugandans, the crisis that has inflicted Uganda’s agriculture sector is beyond the realm of ordinary citizens, but the response from government has been half-hearted.
Objective 22 of the National Objectives and Directives of State Policy states that the State shall take appropriate steps to encourage people to grow and store adequate food, establish national food reserves and encourage and promote nutrition through mass education and other appropriate means.
Objective 23 of the Constitution also urges the government to institute effective machinery for dealing with any hazard or disaster arising out of natural calamities or any situation resulting in displacing of people or serious disruption of their life.

The quoted objectives from the Constitution explicitly infer that the government has a role in ensuring that Ugandans do not starve, but government has rather decided to ignore them.
Under Article 110(1b), the President can declare a state of emergency if he is satisfied that circumstances exist in Uganda or in any part of Uganda in which the security or the economic life of the country or that part is threatened by internal insurgency or natural disaster.
Figures provided by the government are testimony that the lives of Ugandans in Teso and Karamoja sub-regions are in danger.
Opposition Chief Whip Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda says though the problem of parliamentary resolutions can partly be blamed on the apathetic attitude of the Executive towards Parliament, MPs are largely to blame for failing to assert themselves.

“The biggest problem is [not] the attitude of President Museveni and some of his ministers towards Parliament. Parliament itself has allowed this to happen by failing to assert itself because when you put resolutions, you must put conditions for it to be enforced,” Mr Ssemujju says.
At some point, State minister for Agriculture Christopher Kibazanga admitted that more than 10 million Ugandans face starvation.
Figures given by Mr Kibazanga are to the effect that 65 per cent of people in Karamoja sub-region have one meal or half a meal in a day as opposed to three meals, while 35 per cent of the population in the districts of Katakwi, Amuria, Kumi, Bukedea, parts of Serere and Kaberamaido are in the same phase with Karamoja sub-region.

Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa argued that the government has to first weigh the effects of resolutions passed by Parliament before resolving whether to enforce them or not.
On the specific resolution regarding the state of emergency, Nankabirwa countered that the government has to first look at where to get money to buy food for the famine-ravaged districts, saying declaring a state of emergency would not alleviate the situation.
“We have three arms of government. The Executive has its mandate and the Legislature also has its mandate. There is no arm that will just dictate and the other arm just implements. Parliament is free to make resolutions but that does not mean that whatever resolutions Parliament makes, the government will right away implement without making other considerations,” Ms Nankabirwa said.

Five million under threat
But even as famine threatens the livelihoods of more than five million people in some 50 districts, the government treated the motion as routine with Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda launching the typical defence of government.
Contrary to evidence on the ground, Rugunda declared that the government is confronting the famine problem “head on” while State Minister for Relief and Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru blamed the government for failing to institute the Contingency Fund.

The Contingency Fund, as envisaged under the Public Finance Management Act, is meant to respond to emergencies of this nature.
The motion demanding that the government declares a state of emergency in famine-ravaged areas brought into sharp focus the matter of parliamentary resolutions in a week that it emerged that the Speaker has been petitioned over resolutions concerning the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra).
A whistle-blower petitioned Parliament over failure by Unra to implement radical recommendations that were proposed by Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) aimed at cleaning up the road’s body.
With Opposition Chief Whip’s Ssemujju’s tit for tat proposal regarding unenforced Parliament resolutions, the example of Unra is rather instructive as Parliament last year deferred consideration of loans for the roads sector until what MPs called “rot” that has bedevilled the sector is cured.

The Cosase report on Unra documented irregularities at the road’s agency ranging from awarding contracts to incompetent consultants, abuse of procurement laws, to awarding contracts before appointing consultants and payments to firms without contracts.
With Parliament resuming on Tuesday, MPs have to do some soul-searching on whether House resolutions can eternally be ignored by the Executive as Ugandans continue to bear the brunt.