Parliament has endorsed the composition of special interest groups in ahead of the 2026 electoral cycle.
The approval follows a review of the representation of the special interest groups, in accordance with the Constitution and the Parliamentary Elections Act.
In the plenary sitting held on Monday, 20 October 2025, the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Nobert Mao said that special interest groups were previously denied participation in the governance of Uganda and thus could not participate on an equal footing with others.
He added that their inclusion in the composition of Parliament is a guarantee by the Constitution, of minimum participation in the democratic process of government.
“Their representation is one form of affirmative action which the state is required to take under Article 32 of the Constitution, in favour of groups marginalised on the basis of gender, age, disability or any other reason created by history, tradition or custom,” Mao said.
The minister observed that the review process which is carried out every five years ahead of a new election cycle seeks to ensure the retention of the representation of the special interest groups in Parliament.
Ahead of the 2021 general elections, the review process added the category of older persons’ representatives in Parliament.
“Parliament is required under Article 78(2) of the Constitution to review this representation every five years after the first review. The review is now due since the article was last reviewed in October 2020,” Mao added.
The legal provisions define representation of district or city women representatives, where there shall be one woman representative in Parliament for every district and city.
They also provide for special interest groups where the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has 10 representatives in Parliament, at least two of whom shall be women and five workers’ representatives at least one of whom shall be a woman.
There is also provision of youth and persons with disabilities.
Legislators urged government to ensure proper representation of special interest groups in other national leadership positions.
Hon. Sarah Opendi (NRM, Tororo District Woman Representative) said that the National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) does not have sufficient women representation on its board of directors.
“Section 9 of the NIRA board requires the Minister for ICT and National Guidance to ensure that in constituting the board, at least one third should be women but as we speak, only one woman is on the board and all the others are men,” Opendi said.
She urged the Attorney General to always advise executives of agencies to ensure equitable representation of women on their boards.
Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa tasked the Attorney General to address the representation on the NIRA board and report to the House.
Hon. Alex Ndeezi (NRM, PWD Representative) appealed to the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Attorney General to undertake an audit on the representation of persons with disabilities on different boards of Uganda’s agencies.
“There are many boards where persons with disabilities are not represented. Once the audit is accomplished, we shall know what actions can be taken to implement the provisions of the Constitution that caters for among others, fair representation,” Ndeezi said.
Erute County South MP, Hon. Jonathan Odur urged government to consider increasing the number of female representatives of the UPDF by adopting the one-third strategy and also called for regional representation of Workers’ MPs.
“We also need to track the progress of legislators who come Parliament on the affirmative action ticket, to see if they have moved further ahead in their political journey,” Odur added.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda.
