17 Bills passed during second session of 13th Parliament – Speaker

Sixty-nine Bills were introduced in the National Assembly, out of which 17 were passed and assented to, a report card of the Second Session of the 13th Parliament shows.

The report released by Speaker Moses Wetang’ula on Tuesday details that the House tackled a diverse array of subjects through the adoption of 179 Motions.

Wetang’ula pointed out the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (Amendment) Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 13 of 2023) and the National Lottery Bill (National Assembly Bill No. 69 of 2023) which were passed on December 6, 2023.

“I wish to inform you that the President assented to the two Bills on December 11, 2023, and the Acts are now in operation,” the Speaker said in his communication to the House.

He noted that the motions covered various subject matters including school feeding programmes, access to healthcare in the country, road safety, cost of electricity, and investment incentives in the country as well as social protection measures.

“Apart from legislation, 543 Questions were processed, covering diverse topics such as the cost of living, national security, and sports management,” he said.

He added that 114 Petitions were received, out of which 54 were presented to the House.

Wetang’ula stated that 151 Reports were tabled by various House Committees.

These reports covered a range of matters, including Bills, vetting of persons for state office appointments, statutory instruments, inquiries, and petitions.

The House also received and considered reports of the Auditor General on the examination of accounts of the National Government and various state corporations.

The speaker noted that these reports and other papers constituted part of the 2,260 Papers laid on the Table of the House's last session.

Regarding Questions posed to Cabinet Secretaries, the speaker stated that 281 Questions were transmitted to Cabinet Secretaries with 125 Questions responded to, leaving 156 awaiting response.

“In this regard, where a Member is still desirous of obtaining a response to the transmitted Question(s), I will permit the Leader of the Majority Party to prioritise such Questions when scheduling the appearance of Cabinet Secretaries before the House,” Wetang'ula said.