Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has called on Members of Parliament to benchmark in countries that will help improve key areas of policy in Uganda.
According the speaker, benchmarking should be realistic and systematic, and should be able to measure and compare countries that are similar in governance and economy so as to address a certain issue instead of wasting taxpayers money.
Ms Among made the remarks while meeting a delegation of the Business committee from the Parliament of Malawi headed by the First Deputy Speaker, Hon Madalistsa Kazombo, at Parliament on Tuesday July 11.
“I thank you all for choosing to benchmark in Uganda, and call upon my members to desist from benchmarking in countries that do not resonate with our system of governance and economy,’’ she said.
She noted that benchmarking should be conducted to encourage competitive learning between countries, and MPs should be able to make recommendations on return, that will help the country develop key areas of interest.
“You cannot choose to benchmark in New York City and comeback here and expect KCCA or UNRA to immediately implement the same road system that you have seen there, that’s not realistic,” she added.
Benchmarking refers to the systematic measurement and comparison among countries against a selected set of indicators
Ms Among’s remarks come in the wake of Government’s plan to reduce foreign travels for government officials and MPs as one of the measures to plug funding deficits.
Hon Kazombo commended Uganda for the cordial relations that the two nations have shared over the years, and called for deepening of cooperation between the two parliaments.
