Parliament to merge bills relating to death and inheritance

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |  The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah has proposed measures to fast track five bills which he says should have been merged into one. 

Oulanyah on Wednesday stepped into the chair following the demise of Sheila Alitwala Kadaga, Speaker Rebecca Kadaga’s niece who died on Monday. 

However, as the 10th Parliament is looking at beating the May deadline when the 11th Parliament comes in, Oulanyah has decided that debate on some five bills will be merged, and the processes fast-tracked.     

The Bills include; the Administration of Estates (Small Estates) (Special provisions) Bill 2019, the probate Resealing amendment bill, the Administrator General’s Amendment Bill, the Estates of Mission Persons Amendment Bill, and the succession bill. All these bills relate to administration after the death of a person and succession.

Oulanyah says that if it were up to him, he would have merged all the five bills into one bill and they would only contain what is called miscellaneous amendments. He says in this case you would only have chapters making reference to the bills that will be amended.     He says now Parliament will spend up to five times the time they would have spent in handling one bill with components.

He has now proposed a way forward as far as handling the bill in an expeditious manner. He says a motion for each of the bills will be received at its own time. The Speech from the Attorney General will be received on each of the bills according to Oulanyah.     

The questions for debate on each of the debate will be responded to by the sector committee which is Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee by presenting a report on each of the bills before a debate.

Oulanyah will also merge the debate on all the five bills saying an MP who gets up to make a contribution on the bill will speak on any of the bills and will get noted.

This will then be followed by the third reading of the bill on a one by one basis before it can be passed.     Oulanyah says that because the bills relate to the same the subject of death and inheritance, there is no need to spend so much time.     

Oulanyah hopes that all the bills can be processed by  April. Bills have spent from months to years, sometimes ending up in shelves when not considered by that very Parliament.

MPs have welcomed the proposal saying indeed it will save the Parliament a lot of time since bills usually take longer to process.

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