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How political reforms have eluded Uganda under NRM rule
Residents of Kampala line up to cast their votes during the 2021 general elections. PHOTOS/ FILE
What you need to know:
- The push for the electoral reforms has been a pillar of political discourse in the country and can be traced as far back to when National Resistance Movement (NRM) came to power in 1986.
While appearing on the NBS TV following his appointment as minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Norbert Mao, the Democratic Party (DP) president general, said the cooperation agreement he signed with President Museveni in July “is about commitment to a peaceful transition, constitutional reforms and national dialogue”.
President Museveni has already scuttled the “transition narrative” leaving Mr Mao to clutch on constitutional reforms and national dialogue which are largely in his ministerial docket, but recent history suggests even with those Mao and his backers can only hope.
In February 2021, veteran politician Yona Kanyomozi, who was Mr Museveni’s teacher in O-Level at Ntare School, told this publication that “He [Mr Museveni] is a very determined person who can do anything he sets his mind on at whatever cost.”
Kanyomozi, who passed away in August, told Saturday Monitor: “They joined him very blindly and believed he was a socialist, a nationalist but he was nothing of the sort.”
Over the years, individuals who have worked with President Museveni credit him for his mastery of politics, especially his ability to push through his objectives.
Populist appeals
Prof William Muhumuza, a senior lecturer at Makerere University, writes in his paper From fundamental change to no change: The NRM and democratisation in Uganda that President Museveni used populist appeals such as reforms in his first decade (1986-1996) in power, to consolidate his power base.
“It should be realised that President Museveni implemented populist reforms not because he subscribed to democratic ethos, but for purposes of strengthening his hold on power. It ought to be noted that he was never subjected to any elections from 1986 to 1996. During this period, NRM monopolised power. Although political parties were not banned, their activities were restricted to party head offices,” he says.
Prof Muhumuza describes the next decade after the 1996 general election (1996-2006) as one for “the implementation of pseudo-democratic reforms” marked by “a shift from the all-inclusive and broad-based politics of national unity to politics of exclusion and manipulation”.
He argues that over the years, President Museveni has created institutions for advancing democratic governance for symbolic purposes.
“He was pretty aware that such institutions would legitimise his government domestically and before donors. Rather than promote democratisation, these institutions have been systematically manipulated to promote vested political interests of Museveni and subsequently entrench him in power,” he adds.
The push for electoral reforms has been a pillar of political discourse in the country and can be traced as far back to when National Resistance Movement (NRM) came to power in 1986 and beyond.
While there has been disagreement on the specifics, the call for reform to ensure free and fair elections has received bi-partisan support, including from civil society organisations, election observer groups, government, Electoral Commission (EC), including political parties.
Besides Opposition political parties, reform proposals have been made under platforms such as the Interparty Political Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD), Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda (CCEDU), Electoral Commission, Free and Fair Elections Campaigns, Cabinet, the ruling NRM, and National Consultative Forum (NCF).
NRM chairperson Yoweri Museveni (centre) hands the party flag to Herbert Ariko during the recent Soroti East by-election.
For example, different groups, including Opposition, conducted countrywide consultations in 2014 proposing more than 40 reforms contained in the Uganda Citizens’ Compact on Free and Fair Elections. Political parties, including NRM, developed consensus on proposed reforms through IPOD.
Parliament did not consider the proposals in the Constitutional Amendments Bill, 2015. The Opposition accused NRM of using its majority numbers to have the Bill passed without the recommendations.
Based on the undertaking by government through Parliament shortly before the 2016 general election cycle, it was widely expected that the 10th Parliament would, early in its term, deal with the proposed reforms that had been shelved on account of time and other delay tactics. The reforms were never revisited until another “emergency” ahead of the 2021 elections.
Some of the key electoral reforms have revolved around the appointment of members of EC, presidential election results declaration with the push that they be declared at the constituency level like in Kenya.
Surveys by entities such as the Afrobarometer have shown a persistent public demand for electoral reforms in Uganda.
Ahead of the 2021 general election, the President Museveni-led Executive, with the overwhelming support he enjoys in the House, played the time card again. While the Supreme Court issued several deadlines, the Executive was unmoved.
Recommendations
The Supreme Court recommendations, for example, contained a prohibition of donations during elections, the regulation of the use of technology during elections and regulating the role of public officials in political campaigns. These and many other reform proposals have been touted as magic bullets that will fix Uganda’s election problems.
For more than a decade, government has maintained its commitment to establish a Constitutional Review Commission whose process remains “underway”.
In 2018, Maj Gen (Rtd) Kahinda Otafiire, then Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister, recommended 14 people to sit on the Constitutional Review Commission to consider the various constitutional reform proposals that had been received by government over time.
Gen Otafiire recommended the former Attorney General, Prof Edward Kiddu Makubuya, to chair the commission, deputised by former Speaker of Parliament and retired diplomat Francis Butagira. The commission never saw the light of the day.
The biggest reform ahead of the 2021 general election was the elimination of the presidential age limit.
New Bill
In August, Speaker of Parliament Anita Among referred to Mao a motion seeking leave of Parliament to introduce a private member’s Constitution amendment Bill.
Tororo District Woman MP Sarah Opendi had sought to introduce the Bill intended to, among others, raise the qualification of President and Members of Parliament from the current Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) to a bachelor’s degree.
She also wants 40 percent of elective parliamentary seats reserved for women, a move she said would address gender inequality in leadership.
A month earlier, before Mao’s appointment, Parliament had given an ultimatum to then acting Justice minister, Wilson Muruli Mukasa, to constitute the commission. It remains to be seen if Otafiire’s substantive successor, Mao, will get the Constitutional Review Commission moving.
One key element in the agreement signed between Mao and President Museveni is amendment of the term of Parliament. There have been proposals to extend the term of Parliament from five to seven years. That proposal could be the defining one for the Constitutional Review Commission if it ever gets underway.
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) deputy secretary general Harold Kaija says President Museveni is focused on consolidating his rule.
“He [President Museveni] does not want to be party to anything that will shorten his stay in power,” he says.
Kaija adds that there is no political will on the side of the person who has dominated all the three arms of government.
National Unity Platform (NUP) lawmakers at the party headquarter in Kampala. NUP has the majority of Opposition MPs.
“Ugandans must put the President under pressure and force him to allow reforms because Mr Museveni is relaxed and apparently in his mind he thinks he is immortal and is not bothered with the reforms,” he says.
Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago tags the failure to enact reforms to a distinct lack of political will by the ruling NRM.
Mr Lukwago is less optimistic in what he frames as an “unfortunate trajectory”. Whatever widens the political space, he says, will always be blocked. It is the issues that shrink the political space which will be embraced.
“There is also the political dynamics obtaining on the ground were we have President Museveni and his son Gen Muhoozi [Kainerugaba] already projected as candidates for 2026 general election. We do not expect anything to change for the better. Some of us have no hope in those reforms,” he says.
Henry Muguzi, the executive director of the Alliance for Campaign Finance Monitoring, says Uganda no longer has a Constitution with safeguards, yet every Ugandan should yearn for that. He says the current system where one dominant political party lords over everyone is unsustainable.
“We need reforms about how Electoral Commission should be constituted, a Constitution that will guarantee the independence of the other two arms of the government, the Judiciary and Parliament,” he says.
Missing legislation
Part of the urgent reforms, he says, is the “missing legislation” on electoral campaign financing which would entail political parties and candidates being required to disclose the sources of campaign money.
“At the moment there is a lot of darkness in terms of how political parties and candidates access their money,” he says.
DP secretary general and East African Legislative Assembly MP-elect, Gerald Siranda, says the time is ripe for Ugandans to develop consensus and dialogue around the question of reforms, instead of piecemeal efforts.
“I believe the solution is not to look at one particular reform, but to look at the overall Constitutional Review Commission that will come up with several reform areas that we will discuss,” he says.
For example, Mr Siranda explains that there is need to review the entire system of decentralisation which he says is not working for the people.
He adds that there are areas that require referendum like issues of the electoral system and these are critical areas which need everyone’s involvement.
Gerald Karyeija, a political analyst based at Uganda Management Institute, says the world is dynamic and it is important that that reflection is made on both legislation and practice, and therefore, the reforms are necessary.
“The main issue is on two major players and one is Opposition, because it has a duty to press the government. Parliament as an institution must make the issue of reforms clear and a priority in legislative agenda,” he says.
Karyeija adds that Mr Mao will be held to account for his promise to champion reforms by the citizens.
But according to NRM communications manager Rogers Mulindwa, there is no problem with the electoral system right now to warrant urgent reforms.
“Opposition leaders have been winning in areas where they are dominant, like in Masaka NRM lost all the seats. The reforms must be tabled with reasons. I think the electoral process is very fair and free to everybody, whether we make changes or not. Political parties will remain dominant in their respective bases,” he says.
Mr Mulindwa adds that the quest for reforms is part of the lame excuses from Opposition and they do not hold water.
“The current Leader of Opposition [in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga] for the time he has been around, we have not heard him talking about these reforms, which means there is no urgency,” he says. “The reforms came in with the [former prime minister] Amama Mbabazi case and if they [Opposition] think there is particular areas that need to be amended, let them table them in Parliament and that’s the work of Leader of Opposition.”
Bukoto Central MP Richard Sebamala says it is clear that the regime doesn’t want any political reforms, but “maintain its ideology and the philosophy of the Movement system”.
“In short the regime isn’t interested in political reforms that will bring fair competition on the table.”
