The Role Of Parliament In The Separation Of Power In Uganda A Case Study Of 7th Parliament

ABSTRACT

This research establishes the aspect of power separation in Uganda that became operational in 1995 after drafting of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda that enabled and paved way to democratization in the country. in the investigation of the aspect of power separation in Uganda, the researcher explored the state bodies involved in power separation, the role of legislature in power separation, the challenges facing the legislature and lastly, some solutions to curb the challenges facing the parliament in the power separation process as specific objectives. The researcher employed a case study employing both qualitative and quantitative techniques and the research was conducted in Kampala involving all the divisions in the district. Stratified random sampling was used to select respondents because of its flexibility in permitting investigation of different personalities of interest for specific subgroups. The researcher used interviews and questionnaires to gather the needed information for the study and the reliability and validity of research instrument was done by expert judgment method suggested by Adams et al (1985), The research analysis and presentation was done qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings show that there are three state bodies involved in the power separation and these include the executive, legislature and the judiciary. Additionally, is has also been found that the legislature that formed central part of this research is responsible for passing laws, approval of the cabinet, verification of budget, overseeing development, monitoring and ensuring sound security and sensitization of the masses on gov~rnment policies. Concerning the challenges facing the legislature in power separation process, and these include that issue of historical political tyranny, historical single party system. programmatic and functional disorganizations, endemic corruption, lack of focus and commitment among the legislature and low culture of rule of law in the country. In the recommendation, the researcher suggests constitution amendments, drafting some policy to sanction the power of political parties, complete empowerment of legislature, peaceful political dialogue among others.