Parliament passes 20 bills in ten days as its term winds up
The last ten days of the 10th Parliament have witnessed a marathon of both committee and plenary sittings, that have seen more than 20 bills passed.
However, some of the business has been saved for the 11th Parliament according to the speaker Rebecca Kadaga.
The five-year tenure for the 10th Parliament came to end on May 11 in order to pave way for the incoming legislators who will be sworn in starting Monday, May 17.
In total, the 10th Parliament passed 118 bills, 75 resolutions to authorise government to borrow, 47 resolutions paying tribute to various personalities and considered 349 ministerial statements. Parliament also passed more than 100 committee reports.
The executive on its part responded to 653 urgent questions,.
In the last days, Parliament has been conducting two sittings every day; one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Some of the key bills that have been passed in the last ten days are the Sexual Offences Bill 2019 that was introduced as a private member’s bill by Kumi Woman legislator Monica Amoding and the Protection and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill 2020 that was also tabled as a private member’s bill by Ayivu County legislator Bernard Atiku.
The other bills that have been passed are: the National Social Security Fund Amendment Bill 2019, the National Health Insurance Scheme Bill, the Estate of Missing Persons Bill 2019, the Administration of Estates Bill 2019 and the Inland Water Transport Bill 2020.
However, the Traffic and Road Safety Amendment Bill 2021 was dropped by Parliament.
In the last 10 days, Parliament also passed the national budget for the financial year 2021/22 and authorised government to borrow a number of loans to finance the gaps in the national budget.
Some of the business that has been saved for the 11th Parliament include; the Human Right Defenders Protection Bill 2020, the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2019, the Local Government Amendment Bill 2020 and the Labour Disputes Amendment Bill 2018 among others.
