MPs suspension from Parliament was justifiable and necessary!

Following the dramatic events in Parliament on Tuesday in which 5 legislators were suspended and the earlier scenes of comedy that happened on Thursday which forced the Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa to adjourn the house prematurely, many Ugandans raised concerns regarding the conduct of some MPs in the eleventh Parliament.

The Tuesday dramatic events happened after the Minister of State for Internal Affairs read a statement before Parliament regarding Bobi Wine’s arrest. When MPs were asked to debate the statement, the leader of opposition asked the Speaker to allow playing a video in which Bobi Wine was arrested at the airport prompting a controversial and rowdy debate that led to the suspension of 5 MPs.

The said MPs included Beti Nambooze (Mukono Municipality), Frank Kabuye (Kasanda South), Francis Zaake (Mityana Municipality), Derrick Nyeko (Makindye East) and Joyce Bagala (Mityana District) suspended for three sittings for turning rowdy in Parliament after majority of MPs voted against playing the video.

MPs making noise in Parliament

The opposition MPs argument was that the presiding officer Rt Hon Thomas Tayebwa had last week allowed for playing of the video in which Zaake abused and attacked the MPs Semwanga Gyavira (Buyamba County) and Juliet Kinyamatama (Rakai Woman MP) using derogatory words and that he should have in the same spirit allowed for the video of Bobi Wine arrest at the airport to be played in the house.

What opposition MPs failed to appreciate was that the Rules of Procedure that govern Parliament do not compel the Speaker to play such a video and it was therefore his discretion to allow it to play or not. It was also his discretion to put it to vote which he did; opposition MPs took it wrongly to assume that it was their entitlement to have the video played.

Secondly, it was also unnecessary to play the Kyagulanyi arrest video before Parliament because it was seen by all and sundry. In any case Bobi Wine was handled professionally and driven to his home without causing any alarm or commotion in the city. So, why would MPs insist on playing the video which everybody has seen other than discussing the merits and demerits of the statement from the Minister? Were the opposition MPs avoiding a debate on a statement they vigorously demanded for or were they making the house ungovernable to paralyze Parliamentary business? Were they simply playing to the gallery for media attention? Is there a reason to keep Bobi Wine’s arrest into a discussion now that MPs have blocked debate on the same issue?

In a house where the ruling party (NRM) has a big majority that are capable of having their way on any issue, the opposition MPs are supposed to behave in a more persuasive way in case they want their view to be passed. It also makes certain debates bi-partisan and therefore national debates, but when they choose to make everything political and partisan, then the majority of MPs who belong to NRM retreat to their own party stand and the debate loses meaning.

Parliament is an institution that represents all Ugandans and it is held in high esteem by the population, MPs are people of integrity, high moral and intellectual standing and they are expected to use persuasion as opposed to coercion for them to reach any consensus.

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