Parliament has launched an application that will among others help the public track proposed Bills and directly submit petitions for consideration.

 The Speaker Rebecca Kadaga launched the web-based and mobile application named ‘Uganda Bungeni’ at the on-going parliament week departmental exhibitions. Bungeni is a Swahili word meaning ‘inside parliament’. Parliament Week is held under the theme “Building a Strong Democracy in Uganda”.

 Fred Bbaale, the Director of Parliament’s Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Department said that the new application will enable the public participate in legislation by viewing and providing input in the legislative process through what he termed as the Bills and Petition Tracking System.

 Under Bill tracking, any member of the public can be able to track and view the status and progress information of the Bill from its first reading to assent by the President.

One can search for any Bill by committee, title, sponsor or date it was tabled. One can also download a full Bill text and also comment on the proposals in the Bill while still before any committee of parliament for consideration.

Under the petitions module, a member of the public can view lists of petition and their status in parliament and can also submit general petitions for consideration.

source: New Agencies