Eastern 144
Western 135
Northern 127
Central 105
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Eastern Uganda has more Members of Parliament compared to the other regions. The current composition of Parliament gives the eastern region a total of 144 legislators followed by the western region which has 135 seats.
This contradicts a map circulating on social media indicating that the Western region has 270 legislators, far above the other regions whose representation has been put below 100 MPs each. The map gives the Central region 91 seats, 84 seats to the northern region and 81 MPs to the Eastern part of the country.
Although the map is not factual, it has been widely shared on social media platforms and sparked a debate on the unequal distribution of political power and seats in the legislature.
However, Uganda Radio Network (URN)’s fact check shows that Eastern Uganda which comprised of sub-regions categorized as Elgon, Kiira, and Eastern (Teso), has a total of 144 Members of Parliament. These represent a total of 101 constituencies, 40 districts and three special interest group representatives, one for the youth, the elderly and the other representing persons with disabilities.
Of the directly elected MPs, 45 are from Elgon sub-region, 32 are from Kiira sub-region and 24 are from Teso.
The representatives from the Western region are from 93 constituencies, 39 districts and three special interest group representatives (Youths, PWDs and the elderly). The South-Western part of the country has 53 MPs, the Midwest (which covers districts in Tooro and Rwenzori) has 19 MPs, and 21 MPs are from the Albertine region also known as Bunyoro.
In the North, there are a total of 83 constituencies, 41 districts, and three special interest group representatives, giving the region a total of 127 MPs. These include 40 legislators from the areas of Acholi and Lango, 26 from West Nile, and 17 in Karamoja sub-region.
The central region has 76 constituencies, 26 districts, and three representatives of special interest groups giving it 105 MPs. Of the directly elected MPs, 25 are in the Greater Kampala which covers the districts of Kampala, Mukono, Wakiso, Buvuma, and Buikwe. The area of Central North (Mubende, Nakaseke, Luwero, Nakasongola, and Kayunga among others), has 19 MPs, while Central South (Greater Masaka) has 32 legislators.
EC data we analyzed shows that Eastern Uganda which comprised of sub-regions of Elgon, Kiira, and Eastern (Teso), has 144 MPs. They are 101 constituencies, 40 districts & 3 special interest group representatives; youth, the elderly & PWDs. >> @ugandarn .https://t.co/z0EBhxMj1G
— Blanshe Musinguzi (@Johnblanshe_m) February 7, 2021
In fact what mainly stands out in examining representation is how large, in terms of registered voters per MP, some of the constituencies are in Central region, namely Wakiso and Kampala. Busiro County East has nearly 243k, for example pic.twitter.com/ps0x5eqnBF
— Melina Platas (@melinaplatas) February 7, 2021
The total number of MPs from constituencies and district seats in the next parliament will be 499, who will be joined by 30 representatives of special interest groups bringing a total of 529 Members of Parliament. The special interest groups include 10 from the army, five workers, five PWDs, five elderly and five youths.
The Minister of State for Local Government Jenifer Kacha Namuyangu says that certain regions have more constituencies than others because of different factors like the population, the demand based on the challenges in the area, the landscape and terrain among others.
Namuyangu gives an example of the Ik County in Kaabong district which has only 14,000 people having a representation in Parliament simply because they are a unique dialect and an MP from Kaabong who doesn’t speak the language may not ably represent them.
Last year during the debate in which 46 new constituencies were created, Kampala Central Member of Parliament Mohammed Nsereko protested the creation of constituencies in areas with a smaller population.
******
URN
The post Eastern Uganda dominates legislator seats in Parliament appeared first on The Independent Uganda:.
from The Independent Uganda: https://ift.tt/3ruEO6q
0 Comments