Africa-Press – Uganda. A Minority Report led by Erute South MP Jonathan Odur has accused the Political Parties and Organisations (Amendment) Bill, 2025 of seeking to unlawfully centralise powers already assigned to key constitutional institutions.
The report, tabled in Parliament on Monday, contends that the Bill—sponsored by MPs Faith Nakut, Yusuf Mutembuli, and Ronald Afidra — would allow the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) to assume mandates currently held by Parliament, the Electoral Commission, the National Youth Council, and the National Women’s Council.
“These proposals are an overreach,” the Minority warned. “They will subordinate legitimate constitutional institutions to a donor-dependent body that has no legislative anchoring.”
At the centre of the storm is the Bill’s plan to make IPOD a statutory organ, complete with its own governance structure and budgetary allocation.
According to the Minority, this amounts to creating a parallel political regulatory body that not only duplicates but could potentially clash with constitutional entities.
Under Article 79, Parliament is the sole body mandated to make laws. The Electoral Commission regulates political parties and enforces their codes of conduct.
Women and youth representation in politics is facilitated through their respective councils.
The Minority Report warns that vesting IPOD with similar responsibilities would “amend by infection” several Acts of Parliament, disrupting the legal balance.
“The Bill undermines the very institutions the government is trying to rationalise,” the report reads, referencing the NRM administration’s ongoing policy to reduce the proliferation of public bodies.
MPs cited recent statements by the Minister of Public Service pushing for merger and streamlining of government agencies, not expansion.
UPC Party President and Lira East MP Jimmy Akena, himself a former IPOD chair, took to the floor earlier in the week to condemn the Bill as “diabolical”—a term the Minority Report later echoed, citing its dictionary meaning as “characteristic of the Devil.”
According to the report, neither the Electoral Commission, nor any major political party, including the NRM, NUP, FDC, DP, JEEMA, or PPP, was consulted.
“We have only interfaced with the movers,” it states, calling the process a legislative ambush.
The Minority concluded that the Bill should not only be rejected, but that Parliament should put in place more robust checks before granting leave for private members to introduce controversial legislation.
However, Parliament controversially passed the bill on Tuesday.
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