At the rate we are going, Uganda is just a few sessions away from assigning one MP per household. Your uncle in the village might soon have his own “Honourable” title, complete with a convoy of boda bodas and an assistant to help him open water bottles.
Our beloved Parliament once again voted to retain its current size which, in case you haven’t been keeping up, is roughly the same size as a small district. 556 MPs to be exact. That is 353 constituency representatives, 146 district women, 10 soldiers, five youth, five workers, five older persons, five PWDs, and 27 ex-officios.
Now, back in 1996, we had just 290 MPs. Life was simple. The exchange rate was friendly, and so were the MPs.
But fast-forward to 2025, and we have almost doubled that number. The only thing growing faster than Parliament is the price of data bundles. MP Alex Ndeezi, who represents persons with disabilities, pointed out that while Parliament has doubled, PWD representation has fallen from two percent to 0.8 percent.
Meaning the House is getting bigger, but inclusivity is on a diet. At this rate, soon we will have a Parliament so large that some MPs might need Google Maps to find their seats but still not a single sign language interpreter in sight. Sarah Opendi, the Tororo District Woman MP, reminded everyone that only 15 women out of 356 constituencies were directly elected. Fifteen! That is fewer than the number of people who still believe in nyanya mbisi.
Yet, everyone still voted to keep things the same because who, in their right mind, would vote themselves out of a job with free fuel cards? At this pace, we might soon need a new ministry just to manage MPs , The Ministry of Honorable Affairs or we might need an MP or MPs to represent the MPs. Constituency boundaries will be drawn along family compounds, and campaigns will be held at the dinner table. On the positive side , the chances of at least every Ugandan to be an MP at least once to just tick their bucket list has increased , that feels like a better development model than PDM!
*Written by Mark Peter Sseggiriinya
