Several Members of Parliament have been reassigned from the Public Accounts Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) to different sectoral committees following an instruction from Speaker Anita Among.
The Speaker explained that 50 percent of the newly appointed legislators to COSASE failed to attend a capacity development workshop organized by the Parliamentary Commission from February 15 to 17, 2024, without providing a satisfactory explanation.
During a plenary session on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, Speaker Among stated,
“If we cannot hold ourselves accountable, then why should we expect other institutions to be accountable? The expenditure incurred by Parliament for the workshop was wasted, and based on that, I am instructing the party whips to reassign members on the committee who did not attend the workshop.”
Additionally, the Speaker directed the Clerk to Parliament to initiate appropriate disciplinary action against staff members who also missed the training without adequate justification, noting that nine out of 35 invited staff did not attend.
Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi, echoed concerns raised by MPs regarding the frequent absence of ministers during plenary sittings, which has impeded House proceedings on several occasions. Ssenyonyi urged the Speaker to consider implementing measures to ensure better attendance from ministers and other members.
In response to the Speaker’s directive, the Government Chief Whip, the Dean of Independents, and the representative of the army in Parliament reassigned MPs accordingly.
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