Parliament’s 100-Day test

What the report says

Uganda’s 12th Parliament has reached its first 100-day milestone, and The Observer says the real question is not whether it has started work, but whether it has meaningfully changed how power is checked. The Parliament opened in May after the 2026 general elections, with Jacob Marksons Oboth-Oboth elected Speaker and Thomas Tayebwa as Deputy Speaker. Oboth-Oboth set out priorities including anti-corruption, stronger accountability, evidence-based debate, results-based budgeting, openness and oversight.

The article says the early months should be judged by practical evidence: committee hearings held, officials questioned, audit findings followed up, laws amended and government money protected or recovered. It notes that key committees were constituted in July, but argues that their value will depend on results rather than their existence alone. The same standard, the piece says, should apply to legislation and to major government programs such as the Parish Development Model, where Parliament can track allocations, releases, spending, delivery and beneficiaries.

The Observer also places the Parliament’s role in the broader political setting, including President Yoweri Museveni’s October 2 meeting with the NRM Parliamentary Caucus at Kololo Independence Grounds. The President urged NRM lawmakers to stay close to communities and monitor government programs. The article says the deeper test is whether a dominant governing party can support the executive while still scrutinizing it effectively. It also points to 75 NRM MPs and flag bearers facing election petitions, and to calls for action on a committee report related to the Kampala Expressway and toll collections as further examples of unanswered accountability questions.