The Government Legislative Agenda (GLA) means the schedule of policy and legislative initiatives that the government is pursuing in realization of the national development agenda.

The Government Legislative Agenda gives clarity on the measures that the Government seeks to put in place in order to properly anchor its operations, programmes and projects in policy and law.

The coordination of the Government Legislative Agenda is necessary to ensure that identified policy and legislative measures are delivered in a timely, efficient and effective manner.

The primary responsibility for the implementation of the Government Legislative Agenda lies with a Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA) sponsoring a specific policy or legislative initiative.  

On a broader level however, it is appreciated that formulation and progress of an MDA’s policy or legislative initiative requires the involvement of various other stakeholders in Government. The responsibility of other stakeholders in ensuring that the proposes initiatives are adopted is equally acknowledged.

The State Department is mandated to co-ordinate the identification, prioritization and formulation of policies by MDAs to achieve the national development agenda. Specifically, the State Department has developed a framework which provides a standard approach to the development of public policy, address the gaps in the public policy making process and provide guidance in addressing emerging issues and prioritization of the national development priorities.

Public policy is a statement of intent, anchored on a set of principles and decisions, that defines the course of action that the Government will be committed to in achieving specific developmental goals in the interest of the Public.

Public policy making process involves six fundamental stages which include problem Identification and Agenda setting; policy formulation also referred to as policy design; Public Policy Approval/adoption; Public Policy Implementation; Public Policy Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Learning; and Policy Review.

In public policy-making process, public participation is a process through which citizens contribute their perspectives, expertise, and interests on a public policy issue to shape policy actions and decisions that would affect their lives. Forms of public participation in policy-making processes include public consultations, advocacy and lobbying.

Stakeholder engagement is a constitutional imperative in the public policy-making process which is a strategic action that is undertaken by public policy drafters to ensure stakeholders interact, communicate, and build relationships throughout the entire process of public policymaking.  Stakeholder engagement is undertaken in all stages of policy development by policy drafters.

A statutory instrument means subsidiary legislation made by a regulation making authority and meant to better implementing the provisions of an Act of Parliament.  

In particular, section 2 of the Statutory Instrument Act (Cap 2A) defines a statutory instrument as  “any rule, order, regulation, direction, form, tariff of costs or fees, letters patent, commission, warrant, proclamation, by-law, resolution, guideline or other statutory instrument issued, made or established in the execution of a power conferred by or under an Act of Parliament under which that statutory instrument or subsidiary legislation is expressly authorized to be issued.”

Best practice requires that laws and regulations should be underpinned by policy. Accordingly, the development of a policy should precede the development of a law.

A legislative initiative means development of a Bill or review of an Act of Parliament or development or review of a statutory instrument.