Tayebwa Issues Stern Warning to Ineffective Parliamentary Committees

Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has issued a stern warning to parliamentary committees that fail to fulfil their reporting obligations, saying future funding will be tied to performance and accountability for public resources.

Tayebwa said committees that receive and utilise parliamentary funds but fail to produce the required reports must account for their performance or risk losing financial support.

Addressing Members of Parliament during Tuesday afternoon’s plenary sitting, he singled out the Committee on Climate Change, which he said had not presented a single report during the entire term of the 11th Parliament despite receiving and utilising funds.

Other committees he mentioned included the Committees on Equal Opportunities, HIV/AIDS and Related Matters, Human Rights, and Science and Technology.

The Deputy Speaker explained that Parliament established specialised standing committees to ensure that key policy areas receive sustained attention and that MPs are regularly informed about developments in their respective sectors.

Under Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, these committees are required to present reports to the House at least twice a year.
Tayebwa said the reporting requirement was intended to keep Parliament informed about challenges and developments in specialised areas that might otherwise receive less attention from committees with broader mandates.

“This is therefore to require committees to conform to the reporting requirements and justify their existence,” Tayebwa said.

He added that Parliament’s leadership would engage political party whips to ensure that legislators appointed to head committees demonstrate commitment to their responsibilities.

“If your committee is not working, there is no reason for giving you money,” he said, adding that committees whose leaders consistently failed to report while continuing to receive and request funding would face scrutiny.

Tayebwa further said Parliament’s leadership would ask political party whips not to nominate legislators who had led committees that failed to meet their obligations for future leadership positions.

“We will talk to whips and request that, please, this one is not suitable to be a leader,” he said.