The hits and misses of 10th Parliament

Rejecting Ssekitoleko motion on age limit
Undoubtedly the first test of the courage of the 10th Parliament and they came out unscathed. After behind-the-scenes jostling, Nakifuma County MP Robert Kafeero Ssekitoleko tabled a motion in September seeking leave to prepare a private members Constitutional Amendment Bill to increase the retirement age of judges, among other proposals.
But there were many reasons to smell a rat in Ssekitoleko’s motives.
First, the matter of the retirement age of judges was dealt with and rejected by the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs last year. Why was Ssekitoleko re-tabling similar proposals this soon?
Then there was the small matter that Mr Ssekitoleko, and some MPs who were supporting his motion, are battling election petitions. Why would they be involved in a matter that touches the tenure of judges which would amount to clear conflict of interest?
And then there were murmurs that MPs were being bribed with Shs1m and 25Kgs of sugar to support the proposal. Why would MPs be bribed for a motion/proposal believed to be noble?
These were sufficient reasons by many to smell a rat regarding Ssekitoleko’s motion and Speaker Rebecca Kadaga called it right.
In ruling to reject the proposal, Ms Kadaga put it clearly by telling Ssekitoleko that Parliament is not a “football field where you just kick balls”, ruling that there was no urgency in his proposals. In rejecting the proposal that was laced with suspicion and mistrust, Kadaga ensured the 10th Parliament started on a good note.

Cosase biting on fraud and corruption
House committees have generally started in slow-motion mode, save for the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) which has been in overdrive mode.
Cosase has recovered more than Shs40b that Chinese companies had cheated Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) and in the process, restored sanity at the often tainted roads authority agency.
The Committee has also exposed scandals at UNRA, ranging from the payment of Shs21.9 billion to a Chinese company – China Railway No 3 Engineering Group Uganda Limited – that did not have a contract to construct a road, to inflating the cost of the 51km Entebbe Expressway by $16m (about Shs55 billion).
For the manner in which he has steered the Committee in its formative months, Bugweri County MP Abdu Katuntu steers clear as one of the stand-out performers of the 10th Parliament so far.
The Natural Resources Committee also deserves mention for the definitive inquiries it has conducted into the lucrative, but controversy-laden sand mining business.
Foreign firms that had dubiously out-competed local firms from the business have been brought to order while firms operating without licences and environmental impact assessment plans have been reined in.

Kadaga, Oulanyah fight
Right from the 9th Parliament, there has never been love lost between Speaker Rebecca Kadaga and her deputy Jacob Oulanyah. They are always on the edge, waiting for the slightest of provocations to go full-throttle and openly bicker.
After engaging in a toxic campaign for Speaker for the 10th Parliament for the better part of May, tensions calmed down when President Museveni literally forced Oulanyah out of the race. But that was the calm before the storm. All hell broke loose again in August. And what triggered the quarrel?
What should have been a straight-forward decision of who should travel to the Uganda North American Association (Unaa) convention in Boston, United States, rather degenerated into a quarrel.
Speaker Kadaga and her deputy Oulanyah just could not agree on who would travel and who would remain to steer House business. In the end, they both travelled, with separate delegations, leaving House business stalled.
And a war of words followed, Ms Kadaga said she was unaware of the whereabouts of Mr Oulanyah. She accused Mr Oulanyah of not filing a report indicating what business had been conducted in her absence, leaving her with no option but to adjourn the House.
Kadaga followed up by claiming, without furnishing any evidence that Oulanyah was behind a controversial proposal by the Nakifuma County MP Robert Ssekitoleko to introduce a private members motion to increase the retirement age of judges.
The eternal squabbling between these two principals, mandated to protect the mark of honour of Parliament, remains one of the enduring stains on the legislature.

Parliament-media row
With the dust yet to settle over the quarrels between the two principals, MPs led by Ms Kadaga were keen to pick another quarrel; this time with journalists.
Ms Kadaga was furious over reporting done by The Observer, Uganda Radio Network (URN), New Vision and Red Pepper regarding money Parliament forked out to facilitate MPs and Parliamentary staff to travel to Boston for the Unaa trip.
Trouble started after a media report suggested that there were 78 MPs in Boston, spending a whopping Shs2b, a figure that sent Ugandans into a fit of rage. MPs were already unhappy with the coverage of their expenses on burial arrangements and all sorts of things.
Parliament rejected that figure and insisted that there were 20 MPs, five ministers and one EALA MP travelling on its budget. Battle lines had already been drawn.
After a full plenary session that debated the conduct of journalists at Parliament, MPs resolved that the Committee on Rules, Discipline and Privileges investigates the media houses that had reported about MPs’ expenses.
But the inquiry deepened the row further as editors of three of the four ‘accused’ media houses [Red Pepper, URN and The Observer] insisted their editorial decisions are not under the jurisdiction of the Rules Committee and rejected summons to appear for questioning. Parliament awaits a report of the Committee before taking a decision on the ‘accused’ media houses.

Bribery claims
One misdemeanour that follows MPs from one Parliament to another is money. Somehow, an MP or a group of MPs, will always be accused of pocketing a bribe to either vote against a report, a Bill a motion or chart a way of influencing the proceedings of the House.
And it did not take long for the 10th Parliament to be bitten by the money bug. Just five months into its first session, an MP accused colleagues of pocketing Shs1m and 25Kgs of sugar to support a controversial motion to introduce a Constitutional Amendment Bill.
Kilak County MP Anthony Akol accused MPs Robert Ssekitoleko (Nakifuma North), Paul Amoru (Dokolo North) and Peter Mugema (Iganga Municipality) of allegedly leading an inside racket to bribe MPs to support the controversial motion. The accusations and counter accusations faded away as Mr Ssekitoleko’s motion was defeated.
Also, Aringa South County MP Alioni Odria is battling accusations of extortion. He gave a personal statement on the floor denying the accusations and insisted he is still a member of the Public Accounts Committee.

MPs and ministers dodging business
To be fair to the 10th Parliament, the problem of MPs and ministers dodging plenary is an eternal weakness of Parliament. Some MPs and ministers just do not want to attend plenary. Some show up, sign the attendance book for allowances and vanish. This leaves the Speaker in a spot of bother. Even after completion of the first session, there are MPs yet to set foot in the House.
Though attendance of plenary by ministers is stipulated by Rule 103(1), ministers dodge plenary with reckless abandon.
In September, Speaker Kadaga was forced to send Parliament on recess because the government had failed to generate business.