Parliament moves to name and shame ministers who have perpetually absented themselves from parliamentary sittings. This was resolved after the deputy speaker of parliament Thomas Tayebwa expressed displeasure for the continued absence of ministers from house sittings.
The speaker was shocked to find an empty front bench in today’s sitting with only two ministers in the house.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa who presided over the plenary sitting was shocked to enter chambers with only two ministers present plus a handful of legislators. The speaker lost his cool and fumed at the continuous absence of ministers calling it bad manners. Tayebwa expressed a need to engage the appointing authority over the issue which has become a growing concern in Parliament.
MPs turned their guns to the Government Chief Whip, Hon. Dennis Hamson Obua who is mandated to whip ministers to shoulder the burden of the absence of the minister, and tasked him to explain why his whipping stick is not efficient.
Rule 50 of the Rules of Procedures of Parliament requires ministers to attend parliament sitting. It became a game of counter-accusations, as the government chief whip also blamed MPs for equally being absent in the house. However, this did not go well with the house.
It was resolved that the government chief whip drafts an attendance roster of 30 ministers to be devoted to attending a given house sitting and a roll call be done in every sitting to name and shame ministers who absent themselves from house sittings.
Parliament vetted a record number of ministers (82) in the current term of office but it has been a battle to have these ministers in Parliament where they are required to respond to issues that arise on the floor regarding different sectors. MPs spoke out that the continued absence of ministers saying it has demoralized many of them from coming to parliament to raise matters of national importance.
