MPs sign register and vanish

By Moses Walubiri and Moses Mulondo

FOR the third time in less than two months, the ninth parliament couldn't transact business on Tuesday as some of its members denied it quorum by vanishing after signing the attendance register.

According to the parliamentary rules of procedure, a third of members have to be in attendance when the House takes a decision on any issue.

But this is a requirement only when a member raises the issue, meaning that in instances when the matter is not raised, any number of lawmakers in attendance can pass a bill or take a decision on a matter in issue.

With 375 legislators, the ninth parliament requires 124 lawmakers to be in attendance for quorum to be attained.

However, on Tuesday, Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, ordered for a roll call to ascertain the number of legislators in attendance after Busongora North MP, William Nzogou, said the House could not proceed to take decisions on contentious clauses in the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill without the requisite quorum.

"The House is hereby suspended for 10 minutes," Oulanyah said, with the parliament bell going off the moment the Omoro county legislator exited the chambers.

After a hiatus of close to 20 minutes, Oulanyah said 172 lawmakers had signed the register, although it was quite clear that by the time Nzogou raised the issue about lack of quorum, a significant number had slipped out.

As the roll call went on, 51 MPs, perhaps after getting communication from colleagues, scampered back to the chambers, wary of the possible political damage news of skipping a plenary session after signing the register can do to their re-election prospects.

By the time the roll call was over, close to two hours had been lost, with some MPs already itching to sneak out once again.

According to former Leader of Opposition, Nandala Mafabi, some lawmakers choose to hang out in the parliamentary canteen or their offices doing private work after signing the register.

On the cusp of an election year, the issue of roll calling to ascertain quorum in parliament is a contentious one, with some lawmakers saying the practice risks sullying those reported absent even when on official parliamentary duty.

"You (Speaker) should crack the whip on these MPs. They sign the register book and then leave others to do work for them," Nandala said.

However, Geoffrey Ekanya feels only names of lawmakers not in attendance ought to be published because many such MPs are too busy with their private business to attend plenary sessions.

But with hardly a year to the next elections, the matter of MPs absenteeism is expected to get worse as many of them spend more of their time campaigning in their constituencies.