MPs should not double as ministers – Nathan Byanyima

Bukanga North Member of Parliament, Nathan Byanyima is proposing a reform that stops MPs from being appointed to ministerial positions.

The Ugandan legal framework currently provides for a Member of Parliament to double as a minister at the appointment of the president.

According to Byanyima this is the only reform that will ensure effective service delivery as the opposition renews calls for constitutional and electoral reforms.

Byanyima argues that the joining of the leg­is­la­ture and the executive com­pro­mises ef­fec­tive per­for­mance of the said arms of gov­ern­ment.

“I don’t want Members of Parliament to be ministers because I want a person who will put the map of Uganda on his desk and pin it there. Let us hire intelligent people outside there who are not Members of Parliament and do the job for us,” Byanyima said.

According to parliament, an MP is the po­lit­i­cal rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the vot­ers to a par­lia­ment while a min­is­ter is a politi­cian who holds a sig­nif­i­cant pub­lic of­fice in a na­tional or re­gional gov­ern­ment.

Min­is­ters make up a Cab­i­net and MPs, a Par­lia­ment.