THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT NOW, AND IN THE NEAR FUTURE

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THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT NOW,AND IN THE NEAR FUTURE

• Presented at African Capacity Building Forum
  (ACBF) organized Workshop
• In Harare 13th -17th , April 2005
• by
• By HON. RUTH ONIANGO, MP
• PARLIANET

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Introduction

• The relevance of parliaments in the world, and
  more specifically so in Africa, continues to be
  questioned.
• This is a growing concern, especially as
  globalization brings to our sitting rooms
  pictures and stories of what is possible.

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The roles of parliament

• 1.Oversight functions
• This for checking and balancing the power of the
  Executive.
• This function is important because it creates the
  possibility of the Executive being placed under
  popular control and serves as a vital link
  between government and the citizens.

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Roles cont-----

• 2. Passing legislation
• Another key role of parliament
• Parliamentarians have a key responsibility of
  promoting good governance by scrutinizing all
  proposed laws to make sure that they do not
  undermine democracy and thus render it irrelevant

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Roles cont------

• 3. Representation
• As representatives of the citizens,
  parliamentarians have a duty to defend the public
  interest by making sure that public policy
  formulation is relevant to the aspirations of the
  people through consultation and consensus
  building with all interested parties.
• Effective representation also ensures that every
  citizen gets his/her entitlement out of the
  national cake.

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Reforms envisaged

• Effective parliament
• The need for parliament to keep the government
  of the day on its toes can be misinterpreted
• As such governments may fail to deliver and
  would go a head to engage parliamentarians
  through government ministers with unconvincing
  explanations and excuses
• Therefore, parliaments need to be focused, more
  responsible and patriotic in their duty. They
  need to be constructive in their criticisms and
  contributions

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Effective parliament-----

• Many parliamentarians lack the necessary
  wherewithal to participate and contribute to
  parliamentary business due to lack of technical
  and professional capacities
• There is also high polarization between
  government and opposition groups, each side keen
  to out do the other.
• Governments desire to push through its agenda is
  always met with stiff and sometimes unmerited
  road blocks from opposition members

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Effective parliament-----

• For parliament to be effective, it must be able
  to organize its business in accordance with
  democratic norms and values
• Must ensure mechanisms and resources for its
  independence and autonomy
• Availability of non-partisan professional staff
  separate from the main civil service
• Must have adequate unbiased research and
  information facilities for members

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Effective parliament-----

• Rules governing constitution, tenure and
  activities of parliamentary committees need to be
  reviewed and updated
• For instance, frequent shuffling of membership as
  well as late submission of reports to parliament
  attention, obviously cannot achieve much, in fact
  it is very inefficient way to use MPs time.
• Many of these reports at the end of the day are
  never acted upon.

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• 2. Transparent Parliament
• It is clear that many parliaments in Africa are
  in need of change.
• Some operate in isolation. They do not have
  mechanisms to engage and benefit from diversity
  and richness of opinion from the wider public
• They operate like a closed shop
• A system of ensuring feedback from the electorate
  in the deliberations in the house as is being
  done in Tanzania is needed.

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Reforms-----

• 3. Accessible parliament
• The involvement of public including civil society
  and other peoples movements in the work of
  parliament
• There should be effective modes of public
  participation in pre-legislative scrutiny and
  even possibility for lobbying, within limits of
  agreed legal provisions that ensure transparency
• There should be free-flow of information between
  the public and parliament for them to be relevant
  to the needs of the public.

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Reforms---

• 4. Accountable Parliament
• Parliamentarians need to be accountable to the
  electorate for their performance in office and
  for the integrity of their conduct
• This will call for effective electoral sanction
  and monitoring processes reporting procedures to
  inform constituents, standards and enforceable
  code of conduct
• Members require adequate salary to shield them
  from possible manipulation from the executive and
  other interested groups
• Their external income and other interests must be
  made public to avoid conflict of interests and
  biasness in their roles

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The way forward

• There is need to maintain parliamentary committee
  membership long enough to be useful and effective
  in their deliberations
• The parliament must find opportunities to
  interact with the public. The public has to
  participate in policy formulation public expects
  A LOT!!!
• More resources are necessary to enable parliament
  to effectively hold government to account
• There is need to redefine members roles
  vis-à-vis rhetoric and headline grabbing views
  whose real value to the public is nil

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Way forward cont---

• 4. The parliament should ensure fiscal discipline
  within government through initiatives that
  monitor and evaluate government expenditure
  against revenue base and participate in the
  national budget formulation.
• 5. Parliaments must find its rightful place among
  the myriad of stakeholders and lobbyists seeking
  to influence public policy formulation as the
  most legitimate representatives of the citizens.
• 6. Need also to engage government at initial
  level of legislative formulation

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Way forward cont----

• 6. The Parliamentary Committees should be
  structured in a way that clearly separates the
  scrutiny of legislation function from the policy
  deliberation function.
• 7. The members of these committees should stay
  long enough to be able to do their work without
  frequent replacements.
• 8. Resources and capacity building should be
  enhanced to enable members work effectively and
  come up with meaningful deliberations in these
  committees

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Way forward cont-----

• 8. Consultation between Parliament and government
  must be on-going and at all levels.
• 9. Avenues should be found of MPs engaging
  public servants away from the ministers.

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Conclusion

• The above reform initiatives should result in
• More institutional memory and continuity
• Ability to track issues to their logical
  conclusions
• Better understanding of the roles and functions
  among Parliamentarians
• Ability to enhance good governance, transparency
  and accountability
• Enhance Parliaments oversight role
• Enhance Parliaments contribution to policy
  debates

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Conclusion cont-----

• Focus on Parliamentary Committees as major
  initiatives
• More collaboration between Parliament and the
  public service
• More knowledgeable members of Parliament
• Encourage simultaneous feedback by members of the
  public during debate in the chamber
• Major legislative reforms especially of
• archaic laws
• AND SURELY, POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT

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END

• THANK YOU ALL FOR LISTENING