This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out-of-date information.(May 2016) |
Parliament of Uganda Bunge la Uganda | |
---|---|
Eleventh Parliament | |
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Structure | |
Seats | 557 |
Political groups | Government (336) Opposition (109)
Others
|
Elections | |
Last election | 14 January 2021 |
Next election | 2026 |
Meeting place | |
Parliament Avenue, Kampala | |
Website | |
www |
Ugandaportal |
The Parliament of Uganda is the country's unicameral legislative body. The most significant of the Ugandan parliament's functions is to pass laws that will provide good governance in the country. The government ministers are bound to answer to the people's representatives on the floor of the house. Through the various parliamentary committees, parliament scrutinises government programmes, particularly as outlined in the State of the Nation address [1] by the president. The fiscal issues of the government, such as taxation and loans need the sanction of the parliament, after appropriate debate. [2] Parliament must confirm some Presidential nominations and may force a Minister to resign by passing a motion of censure.
The 11th Parliament (2021–2026) has a total of 557 seats, including 353 representatives elected using first-past-the-post voting in single winner constituencies. Using the same method, 146 seats reserved for women are filled, with one seat per district. Finally, 30 seats are indirectly filled via special electoral colleges: 10 by the army, 5 by youths, 5 by elders, 5 by unions, 5 by people with disabilities and 28 Ex Officio Members. In each of these groups, at least one woman must be elected (at least two for the army group). [3] [4] [5] [6]
In 2016, it was composed of 288 constituency representatives, 121 district woman representatives, ten Uganda People's Defence Force representatives, five representatives of the youth, five representatives of persons with disabilities, five representatives of workers, and seventeen ex officio members. [7]
The Ugandan parliament was established in 1962, soon after the country's independence. [8]
This body was then known as the National Assembly. It had 92 members and was presided over, as speaker, by Sir John Bowes Griffin, a British lawyer and former Ugandan Chief Justice.
During this period, Prime Minister Milton Obote abrogated the constitution and declared himself President of Uganda in 1966. This parliament also witnessed the abolition of Uganda's traditional kingdoms and the declaration of Uganda as a republic. This decision was impacted by the legal council of Member of Parliament A. G. Mehta following the Ugandan Constitutional Conference in which Uganda became an independent nation. [9] [10] The speaker during the Second Parliament was Narendra M. Patel, a Ugandan of Indian descent. This parliament ended when Idi Amin overthrew Milton Obote's government in January 1971.
Following the overthrow of Idi Amin in April 1979, a new legislative body known as the Uganda Legislative Council was established. With an initial membership of 30, the membership was later increased to 120. This was the Third Parliament and was chaired by Edward Rugumayo. This legislative body continued to function until the general elections of December 1980.
This period marked the return to power of Milton Obote and the Uganda People's Congress (UPC), following the disputed national elections of 1980. The speaker of the Fourth Parliament was Francis Butagira, a Harvard-trained lawyer. the Fourth Parliament ended when General Basilio Olara Okello overthrew Obote and the UPC government in 1985.
Known as the National Resistance Council (NRC), the Fifth Parliament was established following the end of the Ugandan 1981-1985 guerrilla war. Starting with 38 historical members of the National Resistance Movement and National Resistance Army, the legislative body was gradually expanded to include representatives from around the country. The speaker during the Fifth Parliament was Yoweri Museveni, who also concurrently served as the President of Uganda.
The Sixth Parliament was constituted during one-party rule (NRM). James Wapakhabulo served as speaker from 1996 until 1998. From 1998 until 2001, Francis Ayume, a member of Parliament from Koboko District, served as speaker.
The Seventh Parliament was presided over as Speaker by Edward Ssekandi. The most controversial legislation passed during this period was the amendment of the constitution to remove presidential term limits.
This was a continuation of the Seventh Parliament, with Edward Ssekandi as speaker and Rebecca Kadaga as deputy speaker.
Party | Constituency | Women | Seats | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Appointed | Total | |||||
National Resistance Movement | 141 | 58 | 14 | 213 | ||||||||
Forum for Democratic Change | 27 | 10 | 0 | 37 | ||||||||
Uganda People's Congress | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||||||||
Democratic Party | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||||||||
Conservative Party | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
Justice Forum | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
Independents | 28 | 11 | 1 | 40 | ||||||||
Uganda People's Defence Force Representatives | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||
Total | 215 | 79 | 25 | 319 | ||||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 10,450,788 | 68 | ||||||||||
Source: IPU |
The Ninth Parliament was presided over by Rebecca Kadaga as speaker, and Jacob Oulanyah as deputy speaker.
Party | Constituency | Women | Seats | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Appointed | Total | +/– | ||||
National Resistance Movement | 3,883,209 | 49.22 | 164 | 3,803,608 | 51.56 | 86 | 13 | 263 | +50 | |||
Forum for Democratic Change | 1,070,109 | 13.56 | 23 | 1,242,218 | 16.84 | 11 | 0 | 34 | –3 | |||
Democratic Party | 476,415 | 6.04 | 11 | 325,660 | 4.41 | 1 | 0 | 12 | +4 | |||
Uganda People's Congress | 265,568 | 3.37 | 7 | 237,477 | 3.22 | 3 | 0 | 10 | +1 | |||
Justice Forum | 50,120 | 0.64 | 1 | 10,796 | 0.15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
Conservative Party | 48,276 | 0.61 | 1 | 1,084 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
Uganda Federal Alliance | 23,585 | 0.30 | 0 | 34,346 | 0.47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
People's Progressive Party | 15,692 | 0.20 | 0 | 26,320 | 0.36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
Forum for Integrity in Leadership | 8,871 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||
Social Democratic Party | 5,664 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||
Popular People's Democracy | 3,399 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||
People's Development Party | 2,526 | 0.03 | 0 | 1,853 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
Liberal Democratic Transparency | 2,035 | 0.03 | 0 | 3,997 | 0.05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
Green Partisan Party | 297 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||
Uganda Economic Party | 207 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||||
Independents | 2,034,250 | 25.78 | 30 | 1,689,389 | 22.90 | 11 | 2 | 43 | +3 | |||
Uganda People's Defence Force | 10 | 10 | 0 | |||||||||
Vacant | 1 | – | 1 | – | ||||||||
Total | 7,890,223 | 100.00 | 238 | 7,376,748 | 100.00 | 112 | 25 | 375 | +56 | |||
Source: Election Passport, UC |
In the Tenth Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga and Jacob Oulanyah remained in their posts as speaker and deputy speaker respectively.
Party | Constituency | Women | Seats | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Appointed | Total | +/– | ||||
National Resistance Movement | 3,945,000 | 48.88 | 199 | 3,566,617 | 48.95 | 84 | 10 | 293 | +30 | |||
Forum for Democratic Change | 1,027,648 | 12.73 | 29 | 929,860 | 12.76 | 7 | 0 | 36 | +2 | |||
Democratic Party | 349,962 | 4.34 | 13 | 246,284 | 3.38 | 2 | 0 | 15 | +3 | |||
Uganda People's Congress | 172,781 | 2.14 | 4 | 236,164 | 3.24 | 2 | 0 | 6 | –4 | |||
Justice Forum | 20,089 | 0.25 | 0 | 16,741 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Ugandan Federal Alliance | 18,146 | 0.22 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Conservative Party | 10,792 | 0.13 | 0 | 2,902 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Social Democratic Party | 5,972 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Republican Women and Youth Party | 2,311 | 0.03 | 0 | 8,502 | 0.12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
People's Progressive Party | 2,185 | 0.03 | 0 | 16,720 | 0.23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Uganda Patriotic Movement | 470 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Activist Party | 175 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Independents | 2,515,163 | 31.16 | 44 | 2,261,897 | 31.05 | 17 | 5 | 66 | +23 | |||
Uganda People's Defence Force | 10 | 10 | 0 | |||||||||
Total | 8,070,694 | 100.00 | 289 | 7,285,687 | 100.00 | 112 | 25 | 426 | +51 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 15,277,198 | – | 15,277,198 | – | ||||||||
Source: EC, Election Passport |
On September 27, 2017, a fight ensued during a legislative session of the Ugandan parliament. The legislation in discussion at the time was to remove the presidential age limit of 75 from the Ugandan constitution. Following accusations from the parliamentary speaker against certain lawmakers in the chamber of disorderly conduct, a full-fledged fight broke out in which chairs were thrown, microphone stands used as clubs, and eventual removal of some members by plain clothes security officers. [11]
On March 25, 2022, Thomas Tayebwa was voted as the new Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda. [12]
Party | Constituency | Women | Seats | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Appointed | Total | +/– | ||||
National Resistance Movement | 4,158,934 | 41.60 | 218 | 4,532,814 | 44.81 | 101 | 17 | 336 | +42 | |||
National Unity Platform | 1,347,929 | 13.48 | 43 | 1,607,425 | 15.89 | 14 | 0 | 57 | New | |||
Forum for Democratic Change | 729,247 | 7.29 | 24 | 674,154 | 6.66 | 8 | 0 | 32 | –4 | |||
Democratic Party | 245,248 | 2.45 | 8 | 181,364 | 1.79 | 1 | 0 | 9 | –6 | |||
Uganda People's Congress | 180,313 | 1.80 | 7 | 229,884 | 2.27 | 2 | 0 | 9 | +3 | |||
Alliance for National Transformation | 72,018 | 0.72 | 0 | 82,318 | 0.81 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | |||
Justice Forum | 24,843 | 0.25 | 1 | 22,625 | 0.22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | +1 | |||
People's Progressive Party | 10,076 | 0.10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | ||||||
Uganda Economic Party | 6,199 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||
Ecological Party of Uganda | 4,287 | 0.04 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||
Conservative Party | 1,071 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Social Democratic Party | 719 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Forum for Integrity in Leadership | 122 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||
Congress Service Volunteers Organisation | 68 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||||
Independents | 3,217,480 | 32.18 | 51 | 2,785,676 | 27.54 | 20 | 3 | 74 | +8 | |||
Uganda People's Defence Force | 10 | 10 | 0 | |||||||||
Total | 9,998,554 | 100.00 | 353 | 10,116,260 | 100.00 | 146 | 30 | 529 | +103 | |||
Source: Electoral Commission |
This section may contain material not related to the topic of the article .(July 2024) |
Examples of Uganda's legislation include:
The Uganda Legal Information Institute (ULII) publishes the laws of Uganda, allowing for free online access. [14]
Apollo Milton Obote was a Ugandan politician who served as the second prime minister of Uganda from 1962 to 1966 and the second president of Uganda from 1966 to 1971 and later from 1980 to 1985.
The history of Uganda from 1963 through 1971 comprises the history of Uganda from Ugandan independence from the United Kingdom to the rise of the dictator Idi Amin.
The History of Uganda from 1979 to 1986 comprises the history of Uganda since the end of the dictatorship of Idi Amin. This period has seen the second rule of Milton Obote and the presidency of Yoweri Museveni since 1986, in which Ugandan politics have been dominated by the National Resistance Movement.
The Uganda Electoral Commission (EC) provides national elections for a president and a legislature. The president is elected for a five-year term. The Parliament is composed of members directly elected to represent constituencies, and one woman representative for every district; as well representatives of special interest groups, including the army, youth, workers and persons with disabilities.
The Uganda People's Congress is a political party in Uganda.
The Constitution of Uganda is the supreme law of Uganda. The fourth and current constitution was promulgated on 8 October 1995. It sanctions a republican form of government with a powerful President.
The Buganda Crisis, also called the 1966 Mengo Crisis, the Kabaka Crisis, or the 1966 Crisis, domestically, was a period of political turmoil that occurred in Buganda. It was driven by conflict between Prime Minister Milton Obote and the Kabaka of Buganda, Mutesa II, culminating in a military assault upon the latter's residence that drove him into exile.
Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi is a Ugandan politician and lawyer who served as the eighth vice president of Uganda from 24 May 2011 to 21 June 2021. Prior to that, he served as the Speaker of Parliament from 2001 to 2011. He served as Member of Parliament for Bukoto County Central constituency from 1996 to 2021.
Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga is a Ugandan lawyer and politician who served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda from 19 May 2011 until 21 May 2021. She currently serves as the First Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda. She concurrently serves as Minister for East African Community Affairs, in the Cabinet of Uganda.
Laetitia Eulalia Mary Mukasa Kikonyogo, was a Ugandan lawyer and judge. Prior to her retirement from the bench, she was a member of the Court of Appeal of Uganda, which also doubles as Uganda's Constitutional Court. While there, she served at the rank of Deputy Chief Justice of Uganda. Her first name is sometimes spelled as Leticia or as Letitia.
Jacob L'Okori Oulanyah was a Ugandan agricultural economist, lawyer, and politician, who served as the Speaker of the 11th Parliament of Uganda from 2021 to 2022. He was elected to that position on 24 May 2021, after defeating his tenacious rival the then incumbent Speaker Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga. He served as Deputy Speaker of the Ugandan parliament, from May 2011 until May 2021. Oulanyah was also the member of parliament representing the Omoro County constituency, Omoro District, Acholi sub-region, in the Uganda's Northern Region.
In Uganda, the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) is the leader of the largest political party in the Parliament of Uganda that is not in government. The Leader of the Opposition appoints and heads an alternative shadow cabinet whose duty it is to challenge and influence governmental actions and legislation on the floor of Parliament.
Kirya Balaki Kebba the ex-rebel leader now-defunct rebel Uganda Freedom Movement who was kidnapped by security agents from Jamuhuri estate in Nairobi while in exile in the Republic of Kenya and brought back to Uganda. Kirya Balaki Kebba was acquitted of Treason charges in 1983 but was detained.
Daudi Ochieng, sometimes styled Ocheng, was a Ugandan politician, who served as secretary general of the Kabaka Yekka (KY) party and Opposition Chief Whip. In 1965–6, his allegations – crystallised in a motion he put before Parliament on 4 February 1966 – that then-Prime Minister Milton Obote and deputy commander of the Ugandan army Idi Amin had been complicit in the looting and misappropriation of gold, ivory and cash by Congolese rebels precipitated the Gold Scandal.
Basil Kiiza Bataringaya was a prominent Ugandan politician in post-independence Uganda. He was the Leader of the Opposition at the beginning of the Apollo Milton Obote government, and then he changed parties and was appointed to the powerful role of Ugandan Minister of Internal Affairs. He was imprisoned, tortured, and was one of the first political prisoners to be executed by the Idi Amin regime.
Grace Stuart Katebariirwe Ibingira was a Ugandan lawyer and politician.
Robina Gureme Rwakoojo is a Ugandan Lawyer, legislator who is currently serving as the representative member of Parliament for Gomba West County in Gomba District in the eleventh parliament of Uganda. She is affiliated to the National Resistance Movement (NRM). She also served in the tenth Parliament of Uganda. She also joined the race for Deputy Speakership in of the 11th parliament of Uganda.
A. G. Mehta was a Ugandan member of parliament, barrister and the eldest son of a prominent Indian industrialist. The Honourable A.G. Mehta was elected as the first Asian-Indian mayor of Uganda's capital Kampala in 1968 and was a close colleague of Uganda's first prime minister Milton Obote; with whom he jointly fought for the country's independence at the Uganda Constitutional Conference in 1961. He is credited with drafting elements of what would become the first Constitution of Uganda.