Parliament on September 29th closed on a high, with the Speaker of Parliament Anita Among lauding legislators for scoring high on a string of fronts that are believed to thrust the 11th Parliament towards the full realization of both internal and external set targets.
Lawmaking is by far considered Parliament’s most challenging role, which requires the Executive to initiate draft legislation or bills and the House debates and scrutinizes the same prior to passage. Parliamentarians too can initiate bills through private members bills.
At the climax of a high resounding stretch that marked the commencement of the second of the 5 years of the current tenure, Parliament passed a total of 40 bills since the ascendance of Speaker Among as presiding officer of the 11th Parliament namely:
These bills are
- The Administration of Parliament (Amendment)Bill 2021,
- National Social Security Fund (Amendment) Bill 2021,
- The East African Crude oil Pipeline (Special provisions) Bill 2021,
- The Income Tax (Amendment)Bill 2021,
- The Public Finance Management(Amendment)Bill 2021,
- The Succession Amendment Bill 2021,
- The markets Bill 2021,
- The Mining and Minerals Bill 2021,
- The electricity(Amendment) Bill 2022,
- The Physical Planners Registration Bill 2021,
- The Fisheries and Aquaculture Bull 2021,
- The Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2021(No.2) 2021,
- The Supplementary Appropriation Bill (No.3)2021,
- The Supplementary Appropriation Bill (No.4)2021,
- The Traffic and Road Safety(Amendment) Bill 2022,
- The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill 2022,
- The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2022,
- The Tax Appeals Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2022,
- The Income Tax (Amendment) Bill 2022,
- The Excise Duty (Amendment)Bill 2022,
- The Tax Procedures Code (Amendment)Bill 2022,
- The Public Health (Amendment) Bill 2021,
- The Mining and Minerals Bill, 2022 (as returned by H.E. the President),
- The Kampala Capital City (Amendment) Bill 2021 (as returned by H.E. the President),
- The Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill 2022 (as returned by H.E. the President) ,
- The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2022, The Cooperatives Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2022,
- The Anti-Money Laundering (Amendment) Bill 2022,The Trustees Incorporation (Amendment) Bill 2022,
- The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2022,
- The Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2022,
- The Partnerships (Amendment) Bill 2022,
- The National Local Content Bill 2022, The Parliamentary Pensions (Amendment) Bill, 2022,
- The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill 2022, The Museums and Monuments Bill 2022,
- The Fisheries and Aquaculture Bill, 2021 as returned by H.E the President, The Uganda Human Organ Donation and Transplant Bill 2021.*
In her remarks at the closure of the 1st meeting of the 2nd session, she commended MPs for exceedingly performing well, during which a total of 22 committee reports were processed and adopted, 6 oaths administered, 17 Bills passed with none of them withdrawn and a minimum of 219 questions posed to the Prime Minister by the MPs.
She urged them to ensure that the same energy is exhibited in the subsequent meetings, and also to ensure the same energy is extended to their respective constituencies as a means of ensuring that similar performance is achieved and noted amongst voters, in various constituencies especially through the oversight role.
“Parliamentary oversight is conducted to assess the performance of the Executive Branch, to determine the efficiency, effectiveness, economy of resources and assets by key institutions or agencies of the state.” She said.
Throughout her communiques, Among pledges to achieve Parliament’s Vision of a people centered Parliament. This she says will be achieved by taking the needs and voices of people into account when designing, delivering, implementing and evaluating public policies and services.
Ms Among has also been credited for instilling confidence in a section of legislators, most of which are serving their first term.
In June,while making her remarks at the training workshop of all MPs in Kampala, she pledged to set up a resource center which would help them make research-based submissions on the floor, aimed at improving the quality of debate in the August House.
