The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga, has called on all representatives of the major organs for policy and implementation within Parliament to embrace Corporate Governance as one way of fostering the working relationship between the Parliamentary Commission and the Board of Management.
“Corporate governance has a central role in the management of sustainable institutions, and establishes transparency, integrity and accountability which are key pillars. These, in turn, help build the confidence required of leaders today,” she said.
The Speaker made these remarks at the official opening of a two days retreat of the parliamentary commission and members of the board of management of Parliament, at Lake Victoria Serena Resort Hotel on Monday April 24th, 2017.
Kadaga informed members that the Retreat should have taken place at the commencement of the 10th Parliament as part of the capacity building programme for the Commissioners, but it had taken almost a year due to the busy calendar at the start of the 10th Parliament.
She further informed them that the programme was still relevant because it sought to address the roles and tasks of the Commissioners and Members of the Board of Management, while providing an expanded view of the crucial importance of effective corporate governance and how it is achieved.
“We all still need this training because we all have a task to ensure that Parliament does not just survive but thrive through excellent governance,” she said.
The Speaker informed the participants that recent studies of the governance needs of most organizations pointed out to inadequacies in accountability, supervision, and strategic guidance; existence of conflict of interest, lack of governance tools as well as of full board member independence. She further explained that some of the institutions are still bedeviled by institutional dependence on external pressures and donor dependence, and therefore it was opportune that the parliamentary commissioners and the board of management undertake training on corporate governance.
She concluded by advising all the participants that she expected, them by the end of the training, to develop a broader mindset to deal with the uncertainty of higher-level issues. These include policy formulation, strategic thinking, supervision of management and accountability and also the adoption of new thinking skills to apply to the intellectual activities of direction-giving and implementing strategy.
“Let’s strive to take away as much as possible from this Retreat so that we can institutionalise high standards of good corporate governance for and within Parliament through the various governance organs,” she concluded.
The training was facilitated the Institute of Corporate Governance of Uganda (ICGU). It was attended by the Speaker, the Leader of Government Business and Prime Minister of Uganda represented by Gen. Moses Ali, the Leader of the Opposition who was represented by Hon. Semujju Nganda, the four back bench Commissioners, the Clerk to Parliament, and members of the Board of Management.
