Why star MPs lose elections

By Mary Karugaba and Paul Kiwuuwa

While the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga warned MPs against absenteeism in the House, voters prefer legislators who spend more time sorting out their problems in the constituency, a new research has established.

The research, carried out by two American professors, showed that star performers in the House are unlikely to be re-elected if they do not dedicate enough time to improving services in the constituency.

Presenting the results of the five-year research to members and staff of Parliament on Thursday, Prof. Jeremy Heinstein from Stanford University noted that voters were less concerned about the MPs’ constitutional mandate, namely legislation, supervision and monitoring government activities.

“What voters want is service delivery not how many times one speaks or attends plenary. If they have no roads, clean water and never see you attend some of the social functions, chances of voting you out are very high,” Heinstein said of the research findings.

Accordingly, the researchers established, many MPs who scored highly in committee and plenary work lost the elections because they scored less in the constituency.

The study was commissioned to evaluate the impact of the parliamentary scorecard done by the African Leadership Institute. It, however, established that voters did not care about the scorecard as they do their own assessment, based on whether they feel the MP’s presence.

The scorecard only had an impact on the MPs’ attendance and participation in the House as they want to avoid negative publicity.

“Actually, voters complained that when the scorecard was introduced, things got worse back in the constituencies because MPs stayed longer in Parliament than the constituencies,” the professor said.

MPs that were vocal in the House but did not make it back in the 9th parliament include Prof. Ogenga Latigo, Lands Minister Omara Atubo, Aggrey Awori, Livingstone Okello Okello, Isha Otto, Oduman Okello, Michael Mabikke and William Oketcho.

The professors’ findings were confirmed by members who complained of being overstretched by voters’ demands yet it is not their responsibility.

“Voters need to be sensitised on the role of an MP. They want us to give them roads, bridges, attend fundraising, marriage ceremonies but that is not our role. Our role is to legislate and monitor government programs,” Betty Aol said.