KAMPALA- Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has laid out six targets for the 10th Parliament, against which the MPs will be evaluated when their five-year term expires in May 2021.
Laying out her plan, Ms Kadaga who was opening the five-day post-election seminar in Kampala on Monday, prioritised the fight against corruption, improving education standards, promoting human rights and pushing for a gender-sensitive policy environment.
She also highlighted the need to upgrade health service facilities and service delivery, advocating productivity by citizens and curbing the rampant youth unemployment in the country. “By influencing budgeting processes, Parliament can advocate increased funding to youth programmes, the agriculture sector and other anti-poverty interventions,” Ms Kadaga said.
Youth unemployment remains a serious policy challenge in many sub-Saharan African countries, including Uganda. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) puts the share of unemployed youth (national definition, 18-30 years) among the total unemployed persons in the country at 64 per cent.
And according to statistics from Ubos and Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), of the more than 400,000 young Ugandans who enter the labour market each year, only about 113,000 are absorbed into formal employment, leaving the rest to forage for jobs in the informal sector.
Although MPs in the 7th, 8th and 9th Parliament have been accused of turning the institution of Parliament into a hunting ground and perpetuating financial indiscipline, Ms Kadaga cautioned the new members to lead by example in the fight against graft.
“We have a responsibility to society by behaving as role models. Impeccable character, indomitable courage and incorruptible conduct should be our hallmarks,” the Speaker told the MPs.
She added: “Democracy demands self-discipline of a very high order. It demands from its patrons—the people as well as their leaders, the ability to work with others, tolerating different viewpoints, and ultimately a willingness to submit oneself to the general will of the majority.”
President Museveni, during a Cabinet meeting, also issued a cocktail of benchmarks for his new ministers in which he prioritised; investment, zero-tolerance to corruption and transformation of Uganda from a low income country to a middle income status by either 2019 or 2020.
The previous House
Although Ms Kadaga said the 9th Parliament will be remembered for being people-centred and advocating service delivery, she pointed out that “one of its pitfalls was poor time keeping.”
To the new MPs, Ms Kadaga said: “Despite the busy schedules of each one of us, I urge you to have a good sense of time management, especially for the House, Committee work and training programmes. This will enable us attend to all important matters and perform to the expectations of the electorate.”
As the new Parliament prepares to embark on serious work, Ms Kadaga also explained that the induction seminars are intended to help the new MPs have a broad sense of the position of Parliament in the entire governance setup at local, national and international levels.
ymugerwa@ug.nationmedia.com
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