Parliament Impotent â€" Onyango Odongo

Sep 04, 2001

THE former director of mass mobilisation at the Movement Secretariat, Mr. Onyango Odongo, has described Uganda’s Parliament as impotent, reports John Eremu.

THE former director of mass mobilisation at the Movement Secretariat, Mr. Onyango Odongo, has described Uganda’s Parliament as impotent, reports John Eremu. Onyango, while appearing before the Constitutional Review Commission yesterday, demanded that the President’s executive powers of appointment, including designating army officers, be removed and vested in an independent authority. He called for a full return to multiparty politics and the adoption of a federal system of governance based on the 1962 Constitution model. Under the guidance of the deputy lead counsel, Ms. Angela Kiryabwire, Onyango said the 1995 Constitution was the worst ever drafted constitution in Uganda because it removed power from the people and Parliament and vested it in the President. He said the decision by the Executive to sell off the Uganda Commercial Bank and to send troops to the Democratic Republic of Congo without consultation demonstrated Parliament has no powers. “If any fool still has doubt about the impotence of the Uganda Parliament, that person should read Article 93 of the 1995 Constitution,” Onyango said in a memorandum. Ends

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