Parliament of Uganda

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.

Parliament of Uganda Bunge la Uganda
Eleventh Parliament
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Anita Among, National Resistance Movement since 25 March 2022
Structure
Seats	557
Political groups	Government (336)   National Resistance Movement (336) Opposition (109)   National Unity Platform (57)   Forum for Democratic Change (32)   Democratic Party (9)   Uganda People's Congress (9)   Justice Forum (1)   People's Progressive Party (1) Others   Independents (74)   Military (10)   Ex officio members (28)
Elections
Last election	14 January 2021
Next election	2026
Meeting place
Parliament Avenue, Kampala
Website
www.parliament.go.ug

The Presiding Officer of the Senedd greets delegates from the Ugandan Parliament; 2012

Composition

See also: List of constituencies in Uganda

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]

History

The Ugandan parliament was established in 1962, soon after the country's independence.^[8]

First Parliament (1962–1963)

The tower that separates the east from the north wing buildings at the Uganda Parliament. this tower together with the parliament was built by the British colonial government in the late 1950s as a gift to Uganda just before it attained its independence.

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.

Second Parliament (1963–1971)

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.

Third Parliament (1979–1980)

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.

Fourth Parliament (1980–1985)

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.

Fifth Parliament (1986–1996)

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.

Sixth Parliament (1996–2001)

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.

Seventh Parliament (2001–2006)

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.

Eighth Parliament (2006–2011)

See also: Ugandan general election, 2006 and List of members of the eighth Parliament of Uganda

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

Ninth Parliament (2011–2016)

See also: Ugandan general election, 2011 and List of members of the ninth Parliament of Uganda

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

Tenth Parliament (2016–2021)

See also: Ugandan general election, 2016 and List of members of the tenth Parliament of Uganda

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

2017 Parliament fight

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]

Eleventh Parliament (2021–present)

See also: Ugandan general election, 2021 and List of members of the eleventh Parliament of Uganda

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

Ugandan legislation

Examples of Uganda's legislation include:

• The amendment of the constitution to remove presidential term limits.^{[clarification needed]}
• The Employment Act, 2006, Act 6 of 2006 ^[13]
• The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014
• The Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023

The Uganda Legal Information Institute (ULII) publishes the laws of Uganda, allowing for free online access.^[14]

See also

• List of legislatures by country
• List of speakers of the Parliament of Uganda
• Apollo Ofwono
• Politics of Uganda

References

1. "Is the State of the Nation address relevant?". VINAS Businesses. 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
2. "Functions of The Parliament of Uganda". The Parliament of Uganda. Archived from the original on 2012-04-19.
3. "Composition of Parliament". parliament.go.ug. 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2023-03-15.
4. "Constitution" (PDF).
5. "Electoral handbook" (PDF).
6. "IFES Election Guide | Elections: Uganda National Assembly 2021". www.electionguide.org.
7. "Composition of Uganda's Parliament". The Parliament of Uganda. Archived from the original on 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2014-12-13.
8. "Chronology of the Parliaments of Uganda". Archived from the original on 2017-10-29. Retrieved 2012-07-02.
9. "Uganda Constitutional Conference, 1961". New Vision. October 2016.
10. Great Britain, ed. (1961). Uganda: report of the Uganda Constitutional Conference, 1961 and text of the agreed draft of a new Buganda agreement initialled in London on 9th October, 1961. Cmnd. London: H.M.S.O.
11. AP Archive (2 October 2017). "Fighting in parliament as Uganda ejects MPs". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
12. "I'll use Deputy Speaker's office to serve Ugandans' interests - Tayebwa". Monitor. 2022-03-25. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
13. Uganda Legal Information Institute, Employment Act, 2006, accessed 10 June 2024
14. Uganda Legal Information Institute, Welcome to the Uganda Legal Information Institute, accessed 10 June 2024

External links

• Official website