Cut Army MPs To 2, â€" Mabikke

By Edris Kisambira ARMY representation in Parliament should be reduced to two people, the on-going Constitutional Review Commission heard yesterday. Michael Mabikke, the Member of Parliament for Makindye East, while testifying also proposed a representative for the Police. “There is no reason why the army should be represented by 10 people, moreover half of them coming from the same region. The number should be reduced to give room for Police officers as well,” Mabikke said. He also proposed the strengthening of the law to spell out the independence of the army as an institution and to put in place limitations to prevent the army from participating in partisan politics. Mabikke also called for a reduction of the number of directly elected MPs by merging some constituencies. He said representation for various interest groups should be curtailed as well. He said affirmative action had lost meaning because it benefited a few individuals like Woman MP for Kampala Central, Margaret Zziwa who represented the area since the Constituent Assembly in 1994. “Let 2012 be the cut-off year for affirmative action,” Mabikke said. He also proposed a curtailing of the President’s powers, saying Parliament should reign supreme. Ends