Parliament passes population Bill

By Moses Walubiri & Joyce Namutebi

KAMPALA - The House Tuesday passed the National Population Council Bill 2011 amidst a boycott of plenary proceedings by opposition MPs over what they deem to be the questionable manner in which Gen. Aronda Nyakairima was recently approved as Internal Affairs minister.

The bill which had its first reading in parliament early last year seeks to establish a national population council as a body corporate, establish the Population Secretariat as the secretariat of the Council; to provide for the Council’s composition, functions and administration.

The bill will also create a strong and effective oversight mechanism at the population council whose main function will be to formulate policies that give strategic direction on the implementation of the objectives of the national population policy.

Unlike many pieces of legislation that normally get bogged down in the house as battle lines get drawn between government and opposition MPs, the National Population Council Bill was passed with minor amendments.

Among these included vesting the president instead of the Minister of Finance with powers to appoint the Director General of the National Population Council Secretariat.

The report of the committee on Finance Planning and Economic Development had recommended to the House that the appointment of the Director General be a preserve of the sector minister to ensure “that the reporting mechanism is clear and streamlined.”

The committee report was averse to the idea of the president appointing the Director General out of fear that such an appointee might refuse to submit to the National Population Council Secretariat.

This position which was supported by Hellen Asamo and Margaret Baba Diri was however opposed by a section of legislators including Milton Muwuma and Kyooma Xavier.

By vesting the power to appoint the Director General in the hands of the president in consultation with the sector minister, Muwuma and Kyooma urged, the aura of highest office in the land would lend clout to the Director General’s office.

If it becomes an Act of parliament after getting assented to by the president, the piece of legislation will become the country’s blue print in integrating population factors in development planning,  at all development levels,  in accordance with the National Development Plan.

Minister of State for finance (planning) Matia Kasaija said the bill will come in handy in government’s plans to align the population policy and programs with population related national policies.

Among these include analyzing, interpreting and documenting demographic trends including fertility, mortality, urbanization and migration and their implication on socio economic development.

Kasaija allayed fears that the bill is set to create layers of corporate bodies duplicating responsibilities on population issue, saying: “The bill will only supplement the work of National Bureau of Statistics.”

Uganda is set to conduct its first population census in more than a decade next year during which some of the body corporates created by the Bill will come in handy.