Parliament of Uganda
Last Updated on Thursday, 06 September 2012 13:56 Written by Communications Intern Monday, 14 June 2010 14:15
Political Coordinator
Mr. Johan van Hecke (Belgium/Uganda)
Background
The current Uganda Parliament is the 9th Parliament since independence whose term commenced in May 2011, and will expire in May 2016. The 9th Parliament has 374 members out of which 212 are first time parliamentarians. This means that a majority of the members of the ninth Parliament had never been exposed to parliamentary work, hence creating a need for guidance on some basic principles of parliamentary practices and procedures.
The AWEPA 2011 parliamentary support programme in Uganda is aimed at improving performance of the Ugandan Parliament in its functions of legislation, representation and oversight in a multi-party democracy.
Objectives
- To strengthen and equip parliamentarians and parliamentary Committees to execute their oversight function, formulate policies and draft laws on their respective areas. This was achieved by inducting MPs and some selected Committees in order to strengthen their knowledge and skills in order to execute their mandate. In addition, continuous skills enhancement sessions for women MPs were facilitated, which aimed at introducing UWOPA (Uganda Women Parliamentary Association) Members to parliamentary work and the key roles of a Member of Parliament from a gender point of view.
- To strengthen the capacity of parliamentary staff. This was achieved by organising regular staff training sessions aimed at equipping the parliamentary staff with skills to execute their respective functions and mandate in report writing; research skills; knowledge management in digital era; records and information management; and change management.
Impacts
- As a result of the staff training sessions, staff user manuals in records and information management, and knowledge management in a digital era were developed, while the staff awareness raising meetings on the new performance management tool resulted into the fine tuning of the Parliamentary Staff Performance Appraisal Instrument.
- The standard induction process for Women MPs has contributed to the completion of the UWOPA Common Legislative Agenda for 2011-2016.
Example Activity
Induction Workshop for the Committee Members on National Economy: 24 -26 November, Jinja, Uganda
The Committee on the National Economy is a Standing Committee of Parliament whose mandate is primarily to monitor the performance of the national economy, explore means of improving the economy and approval of loan requests from the executive arm of government. Over a third of the current Members of this Committee have never been parliamentarians before, hence the need for guidance on some basic principles of parliamentary practices and Committee mandate is needed.
At the request of Parliament, AWEPA facilitated a two day orientation / induction of the National Economy Committee, with a special focus on roles and mandate of the Committee and other themes to do with the broad oversight responsibilities. Participants were also introduced to important issues such as links between Parliament and private sector in economic development; the future of oil and gas sector on Uganda’s economy; strengthening the role of parliament in response to poverty reduction; and the role of Parliament in fostering an enabling environment for private sector growth.
As a result of the induction, Members were able to understand their role in the national budget process, monitoring the national economy and scrutinising requests from the executive about borrowing.
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