MPs strident on their role
Dec 14, 2003
A PROPOSAL on the floor of the House that Parliament should appoint a committee to investigate MPs who lack appropriate academic qualifications for membership, is yet another example of attempts at jerry-meandering the constitutional role of Uganda’s supreme legislature
The Other Side of the Coin
By Paul Waibale Senior
A PROPOSAL on the floor of the House that Parliament should appoint a committee to investigate MPs who lack appropriate academic qualifications for membership, is yet another example of attempts at jerry-meandering the constitutional role of Uganda’s supreme legislature.
According to press reports, the proposal was made by MP Nandala Mafabi in the course of a debate of a select committee report on election violence. Mafabi complained that the existence of MPs who lack the required qualifications undermined the integrity of the House.
I do not know why it has taken the Honourable member two years to discover that there are MPs who do not have the required academic papers. But I am aware that he did not express any misgivings, vis-Ã -vis the integrity of the House, when Miria Matembe then Minister for Ethics and Integrity, voiced a blanket accusation that male MPs were sexually harassing their female counterparts.
Interestingly, the select committee on election violence whose report was being debated had diverted from its terms of reference and included the irrelevant recommendation that the police should investigate accusations by former deputy chairman of the Electoral Commission Flora Nkurukenda that some seating MPs lack qualification.
But irrelevant as the recommendation was, it did imply that the committee did appreciate that of investigating such allegations belonged to the police and not the legislature.
Nkurukenda may have offered to name the culprits, but her role as deputy chairman of the Electoral Commission extended far beyond merely naming the offenders. Her duty was to stop their nomination or report the matter to the police if the information regarding the academic status of any elected MP is obtained after the declaration of results.
In my contention, it is dangerous for parliament to trespass on the territory that the constitution has arrogated to the other two arms of government, namely the Executive and the Judiciary.
Parliament’s role was to enact the law that provided the minimum standards of education for members of Parliament, and also set out the procedure for determining any conflicts arising from the polls.
The implementation of what is set out in the law is the duty of the electoral commission, while the role of adjudicating on any controversies arising belongs to the Judiciary. Members of parliament have neither legal nor moral right to preside over the implementation of the law they passed.
I am also intrigued by the tendency for MPs to use parliamentary privilege to utter statements which they are apparently unprepared to state outside the House.
It seems that the allegation that the secretary to the Electoral Commission Semu Rwakojo does not have “even a bachelors degree†and never proceeded beyond secondary school is one of the remarks in that category.
Otherwise, why should an honourable member be aware of such information and remain tight-lipped, waiting for opportunity to let the cat out of the bag on the floor of the House where his freedom from legal action is guaranteed?
Bachelors degrees are not the only academic qualification beyond secondary school. There are several other qualifications, equivalent or even higher than Bachelors degrees, which can be obtained in various professional disciplines following the completion of secondary school education.
In any case, what do the electorate who put the member who complained in parliament gain by his unsolicited invasion of Rwakojo’s CV?
* * *
After a famine of Challenge Cup victory lasting two years, the Uganda Cranes have restored their soccer glory with a landslide victory in this year’s title race. The prophets of doom who were predicting another Cranes’ flop to fuel the anti-Denis Obua agitation, have had to coil their tails between their legs.
It would be a step forward in the development of Uganda soccer if those in that category can bury their prejudice and give even the one they consider to be the devil his due.
Interestingly, the Cranes victory has coincided with Denis Obua’s ascent to the CECAFA summit.
And Denis Obua’s son, David Obua, played a very significant role in the deliverance of that glory. Whatever the Nsubuga’s might say about David Obua, he is currently the best left-winger in Uganda. Those who remember Denis’s status in his playing days will agree that David is a chip off the old block.
In a nutshell, the Cranes deserve a giant “thank you†from Uganda’s soccer fraternity. So be it.
By Paul Waibale Senior
A PROPOSAL on the floor of the House that Parliament should appoint a committee to investigate MPs who lack appropriate academic qualifications for membership, is yet another example of attempts at jerry-meandering the constitutional role of Uganda’s supreme legislature.
According to press reports, the proposal was made by MP Nandala Mafabi in the course of a debate of a select committee report on election violence. Mafabi complained that the existence of MPs who lack the required qualifications undermined the integrity of the House.
I do not know why it has taken the Honourable member two years to discover that there are MPs who do not have the required academic papers. But I am aware that he did not express any misgivings, vis-Ã -vis the integrity of the House, when Miria Matembe then Minister for Ethics and Integrity, voiced a blanket accusation that male MPs were sexually harassing their female counterparts.
Interestingly, the select committee on election violence whose report was being debated had diverted from its terms of reference and included the irrelevant recommendation that the police should investigate accusations by former deputy chairman of the Electoral Commission Flora Nkurukenda that some seating MPs lack qualification.
But irrelevant as the recommendation was, it did imply that the committee did appreciate that of investigating such allegations belonged to the police and not the legislature.
Nkurukenda may have offered to name the culprits, but her role as deputy chairman of the Electoral Commission extended far beyond merely naming the offenders. Her duty was to stop their nomination or report the matter to the police if the information regarding the academic status of any elected MP is obtained after the declaration of results.
In my contention, it is dangerous for parliament to trespass on the territory that the constitution has arrogated to the other two arms of government, namely the Executive and the Judiciary.
Parliament’s role was to enact the law that provided the minimum standards of education for members of Parliament, and also set out the procedure for determining any conflicts arising from the polls.
The implementation of what is set out in the law is the duty of the electoral commission, while the role of adjudicating on any controversies arising belongs to the Judiciary. Members of parliament have neither legal nor moral right to preside over the implementation of the law they passed.
I am also intrigued by the tendency for MPs to use parliamentary privilege to utter statements which they are apparently unprepared to state outside the House.
It seems that the allegation that the secretary to the Electoral Commission Semu Rwakojo does not have “even a bachelors degree†and never proceeded beyond secondary school is one of the remarks in that category.
Otherwise, why should an honourable member be aware of such information and remain tight-lipped, waiting for opportunity to let the cat out of the bag on the floor of the House where his freedom from legal action is guaranteed?
Bachelors degrees are not the only academic qualification beyond secondary school. There are several other qualifications, equivalent or even higher than Bachelors degrees, which can be obtained in various professional disciplines following the completion of secondary school education.
In any case, what do the electorate who put the member who complained in parliament gain by his unsolicited invasion of Rwakojo’s CV?
* * *
After a famine of Challenge Cup victory lasting two years, the Uganda Cranes have restored their soccer glory with a landslide victory in this year’s title race. The prophets of doom who were predicting another Cranes’ flop to fuel the anti-Denis Obua agitation, have had to coil their tails between their legs.
It would be a step forward in the development of Uganda soccer if those in that category can bury their prejudice and give even the one they consider to be the devil his due.
Interestingly, the Cranes victory has coincided with Denis Obua’s ascent to the CECAFA summit.
And Denis Obua’s son, David Obua, played a very significant role in the deliverance of that glory. Whatever the Nsubuga’s might say about David Obua, he is currently the best left-winger in Uganda. Those who remember Denis’s status in his playing days will agree that David is a chip off the old block.
In a nutshell, the Cranes deserve a giant “thank you†from Uganda’s soccer fraternity. So be it.