Parliaments must not shy away from political governance issues – LOP

Mathias Mpuuga, the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in Parliament, has urged African and Asian legislatures to address political governance concerns in their respective nations if the two continents are to enhance the quality of life of their citizens.

Mpuuga made the statements at the end of a three-day African and Asian Parliamentarians meeting on population and development on Thursday evening at a luncheon he hosted on behalf of the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among.

Participants came from Uganda’s, Kenya’s, Tanzania’s, Malawi’s, Zambia’s, Ethiopia’s, and Djibouti’s legislatures. Others came from Ghana’s, Bahrain’s, Pakistan’s, Tajikistan’s, and Japan’s legislatures.

“There are three key dangers that leaders must confront without fear of contradicting themselves. The first is governance, since it all starts with leaders. Mpuuga defined governance as “political government.”

“I know when politicians meet, they become feeble and afraid of discussing the complexities of politics because we don’t have uniformity given the various political backgrounds and political terrain [yet] when you filter the individual countries challenges, it all begins with political challenges,” he added. The Nyendo-Mukungwe legislator also asked MPs to focus on rising vulnerabilities in their nations and come up with creative solutions to meet humanity’s issues.

“You can’t talk about humanity and population without including health, since life is the driving force behind everything. Leaders must rise in unity at times like these, when humanity is under peril, to face the growing issues, effectively discuss them, and propose realistic solutions,” Mpuuga added.

The summit was called as a follow-up to the pledges made by world leaders during the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Nairobi, Kenya in November 2019. This came as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) marked the 25th anniversary of the Cairo conference, at which 179 governments adopted the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) programme of action on reproductive health, women’s empowerment, and gender equality as pillars of sustainable development.