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LETTER TO THE EDITOR, NEW VISION- 3/12/2002
Our Members of Parliament have now deviated from their primary role of legislation!
SIR� Parliament anywhere in the world is supposed to be the crystallisation of democracy.
It is supposed to promote fairness, transparency, accountability and above all, protection of rights.
To uphold these, you need Members of Parliament who are well-endowed with the ability to analyse issues, who are well read and well-informed.
However, what do you have in Uganda? Parliament is a collection of people who cannot even qualify for the post of a sub-county chief.
Their ability to debate and articulate national issues is grossly wanting.
In fact, the majority of our Members of Parliament would do well as sub-county councillors rather than national legislative members.
I am a keen follower of parliamentary debate; but I am often disappointed at the mediocre level of analysis by MPs. Take the case of the appointments committee�s refusal to approve Aisha Lubega as electoral commissioner.
What reason did they give? She is wife to a man who happens to be the chairperson of the Education Service Commission. Therefore, according to our good MPs, her appointment was unethical.
I find this reasoning too shallow, envious, simplistic, na�ve and above all, without in-depth analysis. If it is unethical for a couple to serve as commissioners, it is ethical for Mrs Lubega to be headmistress of a school directly under the supervision of her husband! Are the MPs aware that the role of the Education Service Commission, among many, is to appoint headteachers and terminate their services?
Why didn�t they query the fact that Mrs Lubega was working under the supervision of her husband and that this compromises her husband�s impartiality?
This country is doomed if a body like Parliament cannot reason beyond the ordinary person. Mrs Lubega is a competent person with no fraud case against her; but to refuse to consider her on her own merit was a defeat against
meritocracy.
Then come to the issue of the boundaries of Parliament. These days MPs h
ave appointed themselves as the Alpha and Omega of everything in Uganda.
They interfere in anything ranging from taxi and bus park wrangles, market tenders, land matters, security matters, examination matters, school construction, etc. what will the other organs of government do?
What will the local authority do if Parliament is going to poke its nose into everything on earth?
Ironically, some of these areas MPs interfere with, are too technical for a Senior Six leaver.
It is therefore unacceptable and unwarranted for an S6-level person to claim knowledge of road construction, tax matters, examination matters, etc. Let the technical people do their work without unsolicited interference from MPs.
Otherwise, the MPs are over-concentrating on nonentities at the expense of their primary role of legislation.
Bogere Muzana
Kampala
Published on: Tuesday, 3rd December, 2002 |
