Maracha District Councilors Pass Recommendations to Reduce Number of MPs, and Trim Powers of Parliament.

By Information is Power. 

District Local Council (DLC) Councilors in Maracha District while attending a meeting organized by West Nile Regional Civil Society Network (WESICNET) on Thursday 17-8-2023 at Power Point Restaurant Nyadri, have expressed their opinions and passed recommendations concerning Electoral processes and activities in Uganda.

Hon Silva Drani, the councilor representing people of Oleba Town Council to the district council, requested Parliament to amend the law to allow Women as the only people who will vote for Women MPs.

Another Councilor, while comparing some of the positions like RDCs, DISOs, DPCs etc which he said are doing the same work and some are not performing like some redundant MPs in Uganda Parliament, Workers representative in the district council Hon Dicky Alema has recommended government to trim some of those positions in order to save tax payers money.

He also suggested that, the Electoral Commission of Uganda should make clarity especially regarding voters of special interest groups like Workers, PWDs, Youths and the Elders representatives in Sub-counties, in Districts and in Parliament.

There should be an independent commission set to review how much money MPs should earn, Hon Asea Bosco the councilor representing people of Agaii town council to the district council suggested, as he blames the law for giving all the powers to MPs to decide how much money they earn.

The Deputy speaker Hon Adrian Drakana who is also the councilor representing the elderly in Maracha District council, expressed his happiness with removal of the Age limit in 2017, asked for reinstatement of term limits and the nomination fees for Local Council elections to be lowered so that many competent people can not be limited by money in contesting for these District Local Council and Sub-county Council positions in Uganda.

Electoral Commission officials at the district level should be recruited through District service commission and they should have one term of office, Hon Paul Drasiku the Olufe Sub-county DLC Councilor recommended as he requests for reduction in candidate nomination fees.

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) representative in the district council, Hon Patrick Jalison Mundua said, the powers of MPs to amend the constitution regarding issues to do with Electoral processes should be taken away, instead there should be a referendum to handle it.

To tame issues of not being able to speak in Parliament and so on, Nyadri south Sub-county Councilor to the district council, Hon William Drimbaku asked government to focus on the quality of education a contestant, especially MP aspirants have instead of considering the fact that they have completed S.6 yet some might have failed.

Rt Hon Emmanuel Wanni the Speaker for Maracha District has requested for one particular force to manage affairs and events during campaigns and election times in order to avoid manhandling of people during the election processes.