Canceling Redundant Affirmative Action Is Affirmative Action.
The Observer newspaper has reported about a proposal by the Uganda Law
Society cancelling the affirmative action for parliamentary representation
enjoyed by special interest groups since 1996 when the current Constitution
was promulgated.
Last year, civil society organizations and citizens were called upon to
write proposals for amendments of the Constitution. I actually proposed 27
amendments (picture).
The special interest groups are the army, the youth, the disabled and women.
Affirmative action was intended to guarantee that these groups concerns are
constantly taken into account in the national debate.
However, affirmative action is by nature limited in time.
Yet the recent recommendation by the Uganda Law Society that it is time to
scrap army and women representation in parliament has been received with
shock from these two interest groups.
The question that the people should be asking is what have these groups
brought to the table in the 20 years that they have been allowed
parliamentary access?
About the army being in parliament, if a proper democratic political system
is in place together with a professional army, then the military is
supposed to be focused on doing the job it is trained for: Protecting
Uganda's borders plus it's citizens lives and property. Simple!
Does your askari (guard) decide on how you run your household affairs? It's
not his job.
You summon him to the living room when there is a security breach to
discuss.
As for women representatives, it seems that they have themselves refused to
progress to the equal status with men.
Even those that have been women MP since the measure was introduced 20
years ago, still fear to compete directly with men for the standard MP
seat. Why?
Are prominent women now the ones going against gender activism?
In other job sectors, women are fighting the real fight and getting the few
jobs without the favours that women parliamentarians enjoy.
It seems activism is actually reduced compared to when women were first
given free MP seats.
Didn't we constantly here big feminist voices like Miria Matembe and
Cecilia Ogwal? (In fact wasn't Mrs. Ogwal the only person from Obote's UPC
party that I could support?)
People were mesmerized by these womens pertinent views.
Compare that to the other women MP's today. We hardly hear strong opinions
fom them.
Performance data published in the media repeatedly shows that they aren't
proficient. Poor contribution to debates if any at all. Being in parliament
has become a way for earning increased salaries, yet the rural woman has
hardly benefitted from this significant 20-year national gesture towards
women.
People complain that Women MP's are focusing solely on party politicking,
soe-candidacies, allowances and cat fights. The tabloids are awash with sex
scandals, extramarital affairs and broken marriages.
It's time for women politicians to get back into the fight for women
emancipation and girl education.
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