It sounds like a bad joke to hear President Yoweri Museveni pushing for the enactment of a law that would enable him kick out non-performing Members of Parliament (MPs). The call was made in Mpigi District where candidate Museveni cum president was campaigning for himself and his flag bearers for the 2026 general elections.
The President needs to reminded that the electorate in Uganda does not have much faith in the 556 MPs out of which 353 represent constituencies, 146 for women per district, 10 for UPDF, 5 for the Youth, 5 for PWDs, 5 for workers, 5 for older persons, and 28 Ex-Officio members all crowded in one Parliament with minimal chances of airing out their views.
In all this debate, the President seems to have forgotten his preference for “sleeping” National Resistance Movement (NRM) party MPs. He said they are far better than active legislators from the opposition. The remarks were made during a march 2018 by election in Jinja East for NRM’s Nathan Igeme Nabeta, against the opposition candidate, Paul Mwiru.
Museveni remarked at that rally that “Even if the NRM MP was sick and sleeping, he is still better than a very active Opposition MP” because the NRM MP would vote in line with the government’s programs and positions. The statement generated significant public debate and criticism but the President was serious and meant what he said.
In a turn of events, Museveni has now swallowed his own words not because he has fallen out with “sick and sleeping” MPs but because he was campaigning in an area which rejected the NRM in the 2021. Mpigi is represented by Teddy Nambooze-NUP, Hillary Kiyaga-NUP and FDCs Yusuf Nsibambi as well as the District Chairperson Martin Ssejjemba-NUP.
In his address which appeared to target the opposition, Museveni proposed to Parliament to enact a law allowing for the removal of MPs before the end of their term if they fail to deliver on the promises for which they were elected. He remarks were a response to concerns over low service delivery to the people of Mpigi District.
Listening to the President blaming the current MPs for low or poor service delivery, one is left wondering if the people of Mpigi were getting better service during the tenure of Amelia Kyambadde as their MP and a cabinet Minister and r MP? Are there any additional benefits that an area gets for having an MP who shares political space with the sitting President?
The President partly attributed the situation of poor service delivery in the area to voters’ choices during elections. “If you do not get services, you are partly to blame for voting opposition leaders, these leaders do not talk about your problems in Parliament”. This is a very absurd statement as service delivery is not implemented in Parliament but at the district.
Can we say there is an all-round service delivery in areas like Karamoja and Sebei which vote 100% NRM, I guess the question is redundant. Why then would the President blackmail the voters in opposition strong holds to imagine that service delivery is directly proportionate to the political support an area gives the sitting President and his party.
Could that explain why we have uneven development in some parts of the country like Busoga and Bugisu while other areas are given preferential treatment? At the same rally in Mpigi, the President asked residents to support the NRM to ensure their concerns are addressed. This is a serious contradiction on the part of the President and cannot be taken lightly.
From the remarks, it is evident the President has forgotten that the core duties of an MP typically revolve around four main areas including legislation (law-making), representation, oversight of the government, and budget approval. These roles ensure that the government through MPs remains accountable to the people and acts in the national interest.
We all know several parts of this country which voted Museveni and also voted NRM MPs but still experience poor service delivery. Who does not know that service delivery is channeled through MPs but through the decentralized system headed by a Chief Administrative Officer- CAO who reports to the Ministries of Local Government and of Finance.
We also know that the office of the CAO works hand in hand with a streamlined district technical team and the political wing headed by an elected district Chairperson and concillors who constitute a local government. The MPs who are being blamed for poor service delivery are not part of the structure that makes decision at the district level.
From the President’s remarks, it appears all the decisions are made in Kampala and only implemented at the District by the CAOs depending on how the districts voted. It appears that poor service delivery is deliberate to punish those who do not vote the yellow bus. It is a serious confession on the part of the president that we cannot take for granted and could be the reason why some districts lag behind while others flourish.
At the higher level, Museveni’s sleeping model of parliamentary democracy, treats patronage-based voting as superior to issue-based voting. All that Museveni wants are MPs who simply endorse his wishes without questioning. That could be the reason why the law was amended to deny voters a chance to recall their sleeping MPs.
By the time sleeping MPs come to the debate in the house, they literally have nothing to say as they would have agreed on what to say during their NRM caucus. As such, they cannot make noise over bad roads, broken bridges, lack of market for produce, lack of jobs, poor education and health care among others. In his message to the people of Mpigi, candidate Museveni spoke candidly akin holding the voters at ransom to vote NRM or get no services.
For those who are not aware, it is this very NRM regime that amended the law and deprived the voters the power to recall an MP in what was termed as a vote of no confidence. At that time, the NRM party wanted to shield and cushion their Members of Parliament who had specialized in sleeping on job from being recalled by the voter.
The law in Uganda was amended in 2005 by the Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 2005 to remove the right of voters to recall their MPs under the new multiparty political system. This amendment included the addition of Article 84(7) to the Constitution and tied the right to recall an MP to the operation of the movement political system.
With Uganda’s return to a multiparty system following a 2005 referendum, the provision for voter recall became inoperative in the current political context. As a result, recent court rulings have confirmed that voters do not have the right to recall their MPs before the end of their term, with accountability relying on internal party procedures and subsequent elections.
The proposal for a law to kick out dormant MPs before the end of their five-year tenure appears to be an alternative plan to the 2016 threat where the President said that the opposition would be no more by 2021. Ten years down the road, the President is now seeking the aid of a law to prematurely kick out problematic opposition law makers who sabotage his plans.
If enacted as per his wish, the proposed law could mark a significant step toward strengthening accountability among legislators and improving oversight of service delivery but the spirit behind the President’s push is certainly in bad faith. It is evident that the aim is to use his numerical strength in Parliament to undermine opposition legislators.
The writer, Rogers Wadada is a commentator on political, legal and social issues. wadroger@yahoo.ca
