Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has warned that parliamentary committees that fail to fulfil their reporting obligations risk losing funding, saying future financial support will be tied to performance and accountability.
Addressing Members of Parliament during Tuesday afternoon’s plenary sitting, 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.
“If your committee is not working, there is no reason for giving you money,” Tayebwa warned.
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 cited included the Committees on Equal Opportunities, HIV/AIDS and Related Matters, Human Rights, and Science and Technology.
Tayebwa said 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, the committees are required to present reports to the House at least twice a year.
He said the 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,” he said.
Tayebwa added that Parliament’s leadership would engage political party whips to ensure that legislators appointed to lead committees demonstrate commitment to their responsibilities.
He further warned that the leadership would ask party whips not to nominate legislators who had headed underperforming committees for future leadership positions.
“We will talk to whips and request that, please, this one is not suitable to be a leader,” Tayebwa said.
The warning signals a push by Parliament’s leadership to strengthen committee accountability by linking the use of public resources to the fulfilment of legislative responsibilities.