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Africa: Governance and Law

My Lords, it gives me great pleasure to take part in the debate, and I join all noble Lords in congratulating the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, on bringing this important region of the world to your Lordships’ House. My own remarks will be on the more positive progress made in Uganda. Of course, I agree that much more needs to be done. We know that Uganda has had a history of instability, particularly under Amin’s Government following the expulsion of the Ugandan Asian population, but today it is among the most stable states in the region. It is very important that we build on the strong relations that we have with Uganda and Africa as a whole. I shall concentrate on only a couple of areas but I should like to say that the many friends that I have in my home city of Leicester who were victims of Amin’s expulsion orders still hold a very warm spot for the country that had been home to them for many generations. They have often said that it is time to re-establish the links they once had. Last year, I attended a conference in Kenya on good governance and the participation and empowerment of women in the decision-making process. Of course, empowerment of women is a global issue and the Kenyan conference made it abundantly clear that African women parliamentarians wanted very much to play an active role in their countries’ decision-making. A number of African countries have decided to take affirmative action in ensuring that women can participate in politics, and the implementation of that action in Uganda is closely associated with the coming to power of the Government of the National Resistance Movement in 1986. The Local Government Act 1997 has operationalised aspects of the provisions for affirmative action, dealing with representation of marginalised groups in local government structures. Implementation of affirmative action has resulted in a marked increase in the number of marginalised groups, particularly women, people with disabilities and youth in politics and decision-making, thereby changing the landscape of politics and decision-making in Uganda. Women are the most visible beneficiaries of the policy. Increased visibility and effectiveness of women in politics and decision-making have challenged widespread patriarchal beliefs and practices, which in the past have excluded women from such positions. I have close ties with people from Uganda, who have informed me that the inclusion of women parliamentarians has gained promising momentum. I must congratulate such women MPs as Sylvia Namabidde who argue so passionately for free contraception to protect women from sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. A report from the African quota project examines how the Ugandan Parliament has expanded to include 39 seats reserved for women, one woman from each district. Since its consolidation in the 1995 constitution, women have been guaranteed one-third of all council seats, and women currently hold 24 per cent of seats at national level. This marks great progress in the country when comparisons are drawn with neighbouring Kenya where only 8 per cent of total parliamentary seats are occupied by women. Conversely, it is also evident that neighbouring Rwanda has 48 per cent parliamentary women representation. These are figures that leave many western parliaments struggling to come even close to that sort of representation. However, there has been concern that, in reality, women yield little power. They tend to be elected by male-dominated electoral colleges in the districts, and women elected through quotas tend to owe their allegiance to the men who elected them. Therefore, although there have been improvements, a great deal more needs to be done. A key lesson I took from the report and research is that quotas alone cannot promise a democratic, non-sexist Ugandan society and are just one of a number of tools needed to dismantle patriarchal institutions. Just to touch on education, Uganda continues to make significant strides towards achieving universal primary education. While there is gender parity in the first grade, in adolescence dropouts, especially adolescent girls, are unacceptably high and learning achievement for girls is low. Barriers to education are topped by poverty, socio-economic factors and the indirect costs of education. Girls are more often left at home to help the family. There are more than 800,000 orphans under 15 years of age and, so often, girls stay out of school to care for the sick and for younger siblings. Can the Minister say what is being done through aid funding to support girls who have to care for family members to continue receiving an education? Making decisions about when and where to spend aid takes a great deal of local experience. One of the most worrying consequences of this Government's enormous expansion of the role of DfID has been the corresponding cuts to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The cuts in FCO staff throughout Africa have meant the loss of their local knowledge and expertise. The people who have replaced them might have a good academic understanding of development theory, but little understanding of the local situation and the unique pressures that people are under. For Uganda and its neighbours to respond to the global challenges facing us all, we have to look very seriously at issues such as water preservation. During the past 10 years, steps have been taken under the Nile Basin Initiative to rationalise water resource management and development through a range of statutes, policies and action plans. They have provided the framework for the rational and sustainable management and use of water, the provision of clean water for domestic purposes to all, the orderly development and use of water for purposes other than domestic use and the control of pollution. The Government's strategy includes providing an enabling environment, with the Government as enabler, and regulatory control only in response to need, at enforceable levels, and combined with economic incentives. Unfortunately, in Uganda, water resources are not evenly distributed in time and space and therefore large areas of the country are threatened by persistent periods of floods and drought and by uncertainties over the timing of wet seasons. Groundwater is limited in yield and extent, it is often corrosive and recharge rates are generally low. Management functions are currently being delegated to the lowest appropriate levels, and private sector involvement, women's participation and the development of water resources management capacities are being pursued. Can the Minister say whether we are supporting the Ugandan Government in building infrastructure programmes that will help conserve water supply? Ugandan sugar companies are making significant capital investments to expand their sugar production capacities. Much of the expansion of cane supply is coming from increased cane cultivation by outgrower farmers. Kakira Sugar Works and the Sugar Corporation of Uganda are in the process of installing high-pressure cogeneration equipment, which will enable them to use bagasse—the fibrous waste residue from cane crushing—to produce green electricity for their own use as well to supply the national grid. This will not only help ease the significant power shortfall facing Uganda, but will provide electricity that is more environmentally friendly and significantly cheaper than electricity produced by diesel. Uganda appears to be becoming more proactive in pursuing renewable energy, but climate change does not appear to be an immediate priority. Deforestation and rapid urbanisation are greatly contributing to the release of greenhouse gases. Currently, the Ministry of Water and Environment has prepared a national adaptation plan of action to address issues of climate change at national level. We must all agree that dealing with the problems of climate change is universal. Can the Minister say whether the Government have joint projects supporting the work on adaptation plans? Uganda has made leaps in its encouragement of women into politics, particularly when comparisons are drawn with neighbouring African states. However, there remains a widespread challenge to water preservation and although action is being taken in response to climate change, its effectiveness is debateable. We in the West must see that greater opportunity is provided for countries such as Uganda to be supported in education, skills and investment, and we must ensure that they can trade in equal markets.