{UAH} Why have these MPs gone silent all of a sudden?

Why have these MPs gone silent all of a sudden?

 

In Summary

They made a name shaping and influencing debate on the House floor. They came to be defined as rabble-rousers and floor leaders. If they stood to speak, other MPs would stop to listen. But they have suddenly gone silent. What happened to these MPs? write Isaac Imaka & Solomon Arinaitwe.

It didn't take Odonga Otto, that Aruu County legislator, a very long time to get our attention. At just 23, and fresh from university, Otto jumped onto the national stage, defined himself as a rough and ready legislator in the 8th Parliament.

At an early age in the House, he would, during debates on important issues, joust and provoke in equal measure. Among the number of his eye-catching moments, the 7th Parliament Hansard chronicles how he challenged the Speaker to give him and Ms Ruth Nankabirwa a room for "only" 20 minutes to prove to the minister that he was not young. The minister had, in the middle of an exchange with Otto, told the House that his arguments should be excused because he is a young man.

If that exchange was a measure of Otto's candor, it also pointed toward another of his abiding preoccupations: defending the interests of Ugandans during debates.

Parliament has seen several legislators of Otto's stature and even better ones. Such MPs have been colourfully described as the movers and shakers, the rabble-rousers and floor leaders of the August House. People like the Aggrey Aworis and Winnie Byanyimas in the 6th Parliament.

Although some of their kind are long gone, others still in the House have lately disappeared: taking a low profile, speaking less, and more than often opt for softer stands on issues that they would have otherwise lost their shirts over during their heydays. But when did the rain start beating these honourable members?
Crowded House factor

"Multipartism and the influx of new members in the House cannot allow us to be vibrant," says Mr Geoffrey Ekanya, himself a former rabble-rouser who has lately chosen to take a back seat.

Because of the huge number, Ekanya says, the amount of time allocated to MPs to speak is minimal and because someone cannot clearly articulate issues in two minutes, they choose to leave the floor to the fresh legislators.

His passionate arguments on the floor, always closed with the punch line; "and I am speaking with authority on this matter, Mr Speaker" catapulted the youthful, inexperienced legislator to fore.

"We used to be 200 MPs and Awori (Aggrey) would talk for 10 minutes, I would talk for over five and Cecilia (Ogwal) would go on for even 15 minutes," he said.

"That way, we used to discuss policies in detail without any rush but things have since changed and now we have taken the fight to the streets."
Parliament now comprises 388 members.

Parliamentarians Emmanuel Dombo, Cecilia Ogwal, Reagan Okumu, Kassiano Wadri, Fungaroo Kaps Hassan, Beatrice Anywar, Jimmy Akena, Benson Obua-Ogwal, Nabilah Ssempala and Nansubuga Sseninde had, in the past Parliament carved out for themselves a niche as the successors of their forebears in intellectual debate. They were always firm in confronting the Executive whenever it was at fault.

Mr Dombo, Okumu and Wadri under the Parliamentary Advocacy Forum (Pafo) passionately opposed the removal of term limits. Aswa County's Reagan Okumu took the fight to the Reform Agenda pressure group which later merged with Pafo and Chaapa Karuhanga's group to form the Forum for Democratic Change.

As the 'iron Lady' of the Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC), Ms Ogwal was at the centre of the return of multipartism. Ms Anywar led the fight to save Mabira Forest, earning the moniker, Mama Mabira. They all passionately and loudly spoke in Parliament about good governance amidst the vice of corruption and lawless leadership.

The last Africa Leadership Institute report compiled between June 2009 and May 2010 scored Okumu, Benson-Obua Ogwal, Sseninde, Wadri and Ekanya 87, 82, 94, 84 and 85 per cent respectively, in influencing Parliament debates. They are still in the House, but their guns have since fallen silent. Why?

Is it because most of these MPs have stayed too long in the House, become cynical and no longer see the need to be outspoken?
One would attribute Okumu's continued silence to his poor health. But was Ogwal disarmed by the revelation that as she was harping about government's undemocratic tendencies, she was also quietly benefiting from the system through her company Lira Millers Ltd. by supplying food produce to the NRA/ UPDF?

Or was Nabilah Sempala deflated by the continuous accusation that she was hobnobbing with regime honchos, particularly the President and former Kampala Mayor Nasser Ntege Ssebagala?

The cause, Mr Twebaze Hippo, a legislative researcher who sits at Parliament opines, is the advent of multipartism, the demands of party discipline and the constant caucusing.

"MPs no longer speak their mind and are involuntarily bound by the principle of collective responsibility," says Mr Hippo. He further opines that the aggressive monetisation of the election process has thrust legislators in the murky waters of debts, stressing them financially.

"When you are stressed, performance declines," he says. "Instead of the MPs attending to plenary and committee work, they are chasing deals to clear their debts." But Ms Anywar, who is Woman MP for Kitgum, pointed fingers at the leadership of the opposition, which she branded a "one-man show" for the decline in her performance.

Singling out her advocacy on environment-related issues as her point of strength in the House, she also blamed her failing health for the dip.
"I have had a number of predicaments like accidents which have had a toll on me. My poor health now has affected my activeness," she said. "The leadership of the opposition is [also] one of my frustrations. We expect to be working as a team but it has turned into a one-man show and when you put in your efforts, somebody pulls them down."

However, Anywar has also been accused by fellow FDC legislators of hobnobbing with the NRM top echelon and is suspected of surreptitiously serving interests of the ruling party in Parliament. This belief was heightened by the numerous visits, by the President, to her constituency and when she was indisposed in hospital.

The Leader of Opposition, Mr Nandala Mafabi, has severally accused her of being a poor performer as shadow cabinet minister. "It is clear she is never in Parliament to see what we do," Mr Mafabi said in response to her claim that the opposition leadership is a one-man show. "The public is the one which should judge my leadership."

Although talked about in hushed voices, the discontent among the opposition old folk over Mr Mafabi as the Leader of Opposition in Parliament persists. Some of them feel they were passed over and have since opted to take a back seat.

Secondly, blame is also laid on what they term as "government's defiance to adopt policies they advocate for". "We lose steam because we do not see the seriousness on the side of the leadership of Parliament and the government. We reach a stage where we say we are wasting our energy for nothing," Mr Wadri said.

Mr Wadri had had a top-notch performance as opposition Chief Whip in the 8th Parliament but his performance has waned during his tenure as chairman PAC, a position he took over from Mr Mafabi. "I have been in PAC for two years but how many reports have you seen which have not been biting. You saw [Khiddu] Makubuya resigning, [Hassan] Basajjabalaba being prosecuted and the recommendations on Dura Cement deal".

He attributes his silence to the "too much work in PAC". "We meet from Monday to Monday. It takes most of my time and by the time I get to plenary I am very exhausted," he said. "The dominance of the ruling party has also affected the opposition. They (NRM MPs) are "a large number of voting machines who do not care about the future of Ugandans".

Mr Emmanuel Dombo, the Butaleja County MP, who always bellowed in the House endeared himself to many during his time in the Pafo also hinges his silence to frustration. "Being outspoken without your efforts resulting into the desired changes results in progressive frustrations and it is therefore not worthy to continue talking without creating change," he argued.

Others like the former chair of the Parliamentary Forum on Oil and Gas, Henry Banyenzaki, who was the face of internal NRM opposition to draconian tendencies, have gone silent upon being appointed a minister.

Wakiso Woman MP Rosemary Seninde, who earned plaudits for her stellar performance as chair of the Social Services Committee in the 8th Parliament, said her work on the Land Committee instituted by President Museveni was eating into her time for Parliament duties. "In Buganda, we have the biggest challenge of the land issue and you are aware I was put on the committee and of course it is eating into some of my time," she said.

However, Ms Sseninde had gone quiet even before joining the President's committee, which is actually not part of her job as an MP. Some of her noted achievements include the motion for Parliament to give priority to malaria and she also initiated a Parliamentary Forum on Quality Education.

Could government's indifference toward views of outspoken MPs have succeeded in wearing down opposition? "Some MPs got discouraged because of speaking about same things that are bad and should be avoided but the government keeps on doing them,"said Obongi County MP, Hassan Kaps Fungaroo.

He added: "The strategy of the opposition has been to allow voices of dissent to come from within the NRM MPs. If we speak the things the so-called 'rebel MPs' are saying, NRM will gang up against them and say they are opposition."

silent legislators

SILENT LEGISLATORS

Name of MP Party
Reagan Okumu FDC, ASWA
Cecilia Ogwal FDC, DOKOLO
Emmanuel Dombo NRM, BUTALEJA EAST
Geoffrey Ekanya FDC, TORORO COUNTY
Akena James UPC, LIRA
Kassiano Wadri FDC, TEREGO
Atim Anywar Beatrice FDC, KITGUM
Bangirana Anifa Kawooya NRM, SEMBABULE
Fungaroo Kaps Hassan FDC, OBONGI
Kyamadidi Vincent NRM, RWAMPARA
Kyanjo Hussein Silman JEEMA, MAKINDYE WEST
Lyomoki Samuel NRM, WORKERS
Mukula George Michael NRM, SOROTI
Naggayi Nabilah Ssempala FDC, KAMPALA
Nansubuga Sseninde NRM, WAKISO
Nsereko Muhammad NRM, KAMPALA CENTRAL
Obua Denis Hamson NRM, AJURI
Obua-Benson Ogwal UPC, MOROTO
Jack Sabiiti FDC, RUKIGA
Sebuliba Mutumba DP, KAWEMPE –SOUTH
Byarugaba Alex Bakunda NRM, ISINGIRO SOUTH
Issa Kikungwe DP, KYADONDO SOUTH
Felix Okot Ogong NRM, DOKOLO
Okupa Elijah FDC, KASILO COUNTY
Sanjay Tanna INDEP, TORORO MUNICIPALITY
Ndeezi Alex NRM, PWD CENTRAL
Muhammad Kawuma DP, ENTEBBE
Amuriat Patrick Oboi FDC, KUMI
Akello Franca FDC, AGAGO

--
H.OGWAPITI
-----------------------------------------------------
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that  we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic  and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
---Theodore Roosevelt