The tragedy of Uganda’s Parliament

According to the Constitution, the minimum qualification for one to vie for the position of Member of Parliament is a S6 certificate (higher secondary) or its equivalent. But there is no primary or secondary school, be it lower or higher where research is taught as a subject. I bet, let anyone produce a single secondary school teaching research in Uganda here. 

Research is only taught in institutions of higher learning, and even at that level serious research is taught from degree level upwards. So, what is the work of a Member of Parliament (MP)?

An MP has four major roles. That is to; (a) legislate (b) appropriate (c) oversight and (d) influence development in their respective constituencies. Looking at the above responsibilities of an MP, it is clear that every MP needs to have good skills of research for him/her to be able to conduct his/her duties effectively. 

Taking stock and assessment on our MP’s background, it is evident that many of them do not have the capacity to do good research and logically debate on national matters, especially in the areas of oil and gas, health, education, agriculture, technology, etc. from an informed point of view. 

Honestly, how many of our MPs have the capacity to bring up a private members Bill in Parliament? Which research designs and methodologies do our MPs apply to get information which they base on to make and check national policies? 

Do you know that we have a reasonable number of MPs who go to Parliament and complete the five years without saying anything in the House, but after every parliamentary seating they call journalists in the corridors, give them money and be captured on camera saying something about what has been discussed.  

This is an indication that many of our MPs conduct their debates in the corridors of Parliament but not in the House. I am afraid that we may be having some MPs who can’t even explain what a national policy is all about. You assign S6 graduates the work to evaluate and check the performance of the technical team in Bank of Uganda, Civil Aviation Authority, oil sector, health sector, ICT, URA, national planning authority, NEMA, NSSF, UNRA, NIRA, etc. No wonder we have a lot of embezzlement of government funds and corruption in Uganda.

Since some people are now campaigning to adopt a parliamentary system. I think it is high time we think of amending both Article 102 and 80 of our Constitution such that for one to stand for the position President or MP, he/she should at least have a bachelor’s degree.

I really admire the way the 1996, 2001and 2006 Parliaments used to debate. MPs had some level of political maturity, they would debate in a more mature and informed point of view but today Parliament has almost turned into an entertainment theatre just for comedy, yet we invest in it a lot of our taxpayers money. In fact, comedians are even better, because they act what they purely understand, not like some of our MPs who do work that many of them don’t understand.

Mr Robert Gwaivu is a political analyst and lecturer at KIU