Military Police personnel at the National Unity Platform offices in Kavule, Kampala on July 22, 2024. There was visible deployment of multiple security personnel already in place by press time last evening. PHOTO | MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
Organisers of the planned anti-corruption march to Parliament today have laid down seven key demands they want met.
The youthful planners of the demonstrations told this publication the protest, which President Museveni sternly warned against on Saturday during his televised address, will go on until their message is delivered.
Top on the list of the youths demand is the call for Speaker of Parliament Anita Among to resign alongside the four parliamentary backbench Commissioners and any legislators implicated in corruption scandal as investigations go on.
They also want the size of Parliament whittled down from the current 529 elected members to a reasonably low number. The youths also demand a lifestyle audit of all people’s representatives in the August House.
Parliament, which went on a month-long recess on June 23, reconvenes today as the demonstrators; expected to be armed with placards and inscriptions of their demands, are expected to peacefully march to the House.
Public access through the roads, streets and avenues leading to Parliament are expected to be restricted or closed with visible deployment of multiple security personnel already in place by press time last evening.
But a group of lawyers in a July 21 letter responding to the Police July 18 letter warning the demonstrators not to go ahead with the planned protests, said peaceful protest is provided for in the Constitution.
“Constitutional Court in Human Rights Network Uganda, DENIVA, FIDA, Hon Muwanga Kivumbi & Bishop Dr Zac Niringiye versus Attorney General, Const. Petition No 56 of 2013 upheld these principles on the right to demonstrate under Article 29(1)d and struck down section 8 of the Public Order Management Act, which equally sought to give police discretionary powers tostop or restrict public meetings,” they wrote.
“We, therefore, urge the Uganda Police Force and its sister security agencies to respect this country’s Constitution as clearly interpreted by the Constitutional Court. The planned demonstration or protest should not be prohibited. The Police should adequately deploy to regulate its conduct so that it remains peaceful even if it may cause some disruptions to other lawful activities.
“Such disruptions are normal and envisaged in enjoyment of the right to demonstrate and petition. Once again, we appeal to the Uganda Police Force, please respect the law, decisions of the Constitutional Court and heed the voice of reason!” the letter adds.
But the police again yesterday through Mr Kituuma Rusoke, their spokesperson, termed the demonstration a political procession. They said their intelligence shows the planners and demonstrators have hidden motives and warned they won’t tolerate any disorderly conduct
Undeterred by the police warnings, the protest organisers told this newspaper last evening that their plan remains in place and will go ahead today.
“We don’t have a written petition to hand over to anyone, our message, which we have designed on placards, is very clear and we shall peacefully march and deliver it,” Ms Praise Opolose, one of the organisers, said yesterday.
“We are aware of the heavy deployment and this has made us abandon our prior arrangement of meeting at the Railway Grounds. The youthswill walk from different places to Parliament,” she added.
Former Makerere University Guild president Shamim Nambasa said they will not engage with Ms Among whom they want out of office immediately. She said they would leave promptly once they delivered their message.
“Tomorrow’s march is not the only activity, we have organised a series of more activities, which will come after. How tomorrow will go will determine the subsequent activities,” she said.
Claims against Parliament
There has been intense scrutiny of Parliament, including an exhibition under the hashtag #UgandaParliamentExhibition on the micro-blogging site X, formerly Twitter, amid criticism over alleged maladministration and extravagant spending by the 11th Parliament.
The drive was led by citizens, among them journalist cum lawyer and social justice activist Agather Atuhaire, and university don and satirist, Prof Jimmy Spire Ssentongo. But Speaker Among has often dismissed it as a political witch-hunt.
Speaker of Parliament Anita Among. Top on the list of the youths demand is the call for Ms Among to resign alongside the four parliamentary backbench Commissioners and any legislators implicated in corruption scandal. PHOTO | FILE
But Ms Nambasa said it was indefensible for the Speaker to continue holding the third highest office of the land yet she has been adversely mentioned in connection with corruption scandals, including being sanctioned by the governments of the United Kingdom, and United States of America.
The protesters also demand that former Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Mathias Mpuuga, who is now a Commissioner and his four counterparts from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, including Solomon Silwanyi (Bukooli County), Prossy Akampurira (Rubanda District Woman MP), and Esther Afoyochan (Zombo District Woman MP), should resign over claims that they shared Shs1.7b as service award in May 2022.
Mr Mpuuga, who has openly declined earlier calls by his National Unity Platform (NUP) party to resign, was reportedly awarded half a billion shillings and the rest Shs400m each.
“We cannot claim to be fighting corruption with such people in offices, they must go,” Ms Opolose said.
Last week, some activists under their umbrella, Harambee Initiative Uganda, launched a 60-day campaign to traverse the country in a bid to collect up to 1.8 million signatures to enable them table a motion that seeks to reduce the number of legislators from the current 529 to 191.
The Police must respect the Constitutional Court’s decisions on the right to demonstrate
“Our government is the potent omnipresent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by example … If the government becomes lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law, it invites every man to become law unto himself, it invites anarchy.”
1. Our attention has been drawn to a letter dated 18th July 2024 written on behalf of the Inspector General of Police. It is addressed to four individuals who held a meeting with the Uganda Police force over a notice for a public meeting scheduled for 23rd July 2024. The public meeting, based on information that is widely available online, is intended to be a peaceful march and protest to Parliament over the scourge of corruption that has overran our country.
2. The said letter informs the said individuals that the Uganda Police Force has reservations on the number of expected demonstrators in regard to the 23rd July 2024 meeting. It is claimed that the Police has credible intelligence that some elements wish to take advantage of the planned demonstration to disrupt public order and incite violence. The Police then conclude, in the said letter, with a threat that they will not allow any form of demonstrations in crowded cities and towns to disrupt lawful activities.
3. With due respect to the Uganda Police Force, this letter is most unfortunate and reprehensible. It deserves utmost condemnation. It constitutes an affront to the constitutionally respected right to demonstrate and petition under Article 29 (1)d of the constitution. Article 29(1)d guarantees freedom of assembly and the right to demonstrate peacefully and unarmed as well as to present petitions. The letter restricts the citizens’ right to demand accountability from elected leaders through peaceful demonstrations and presentation of petitions.
4. The Uganda Police Force is certainly well aware that the Constitutional Court of this country has interpreted the scope of enjoyment of the Constitutionally protected right to demonstrate peacefully as well as the limitations. In Constitutional Petition No. 09 of 2005 Muwanga Kivumbi vs Attorney General, the Justices of the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that police powers over demonstrations are regulatory and not prohibitive. The police cannot prohibit a demonstration from proceeding but have powers to regulate it to ensure it takes place within confines of the law. The Justices of the court emphasized that a democratic society should be able to tolerate a good deal of annoyance or disorder so as to encourage the greatest possible freedom of expression, particularly political expression. The Court struck down the powers of the IGP under the Police Act to prohibit or restrict demonstrations.
5. Similarly, the Constitutional Court in Human Rights Network Uganda, DENIVA, FIDA, Hon.Muwanga Kivumbi & Bishop Dr Zac Niringiye vs Attorney General, Const.Petition No.56 of 2013 upheld these principles on the right to demonstrate under Article 29(1)d and struck down section 8 of the Public Order Management Act which equally sought to give Police discretionary powers to stop or restrict public meetings.
6. The clear, unequivocal and consistent position of the Constitutional Court is that the Police or any other authority do not have powers to stop the holding of a public gathering including a protest or demonstration on grounds that it might cause a breach of peace or interrupt other lawful activities. The Court also ruled that supervision of public order is a core duty of the police and it cannot be discharged by prohibiting sections of the public from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed rights to demonstrate peacefully or hold public meetings of any nature.
7. Further, the Constitutional Court ruled that provided a protest or public gathering is peaceful, it does not matter that it may be disruptive or even inconveniencing due to the large numbers of individuals that may participate. The duty of the Police, the court ordered, is to regulate the holding of public gatherings by deploying its personnel to supervise and guard against the same becoming violent.
8. In light of this clear position of the law and orders from the Constitutional Court, the directives threatening to stop a public meeting on 23rd July 2024 are illegal, unconstitutional and in utter contempt of decisions of the Constitutional Court. The Uganda Police Force and other security organs involved in seeking to suppress this meeting are acting unlawfully and in contempt. The individuals in Uganda Police Force and other security agencies involved may be held personally liable, in the near future, for violating the Constitution and disobeying decisions of the Constitutional Court.
9. The police’s claim that they have intelligence indicating that certain rogue elements plan to exploit the protest to disrupt public order cannot be grounds to prohibit the protest. The police have a positive obligation to facilitate peaceful protests and ensure that protesters carry out their protest without being attacked or hijacked by other actors. The police’s failure or refusal to perform their duties cannot be a basis for limiting citizens’ right to peaceful assembly and expression.
10. We have also taken note of the subtle disapproval by the Head of State, President Yoweri Museveni, of the intended demonstration in his address to the nation last night. We strongly urge him to heed the wisdom of the words directly addressed to him in the dicta of Egonda Ntende JJA in Maj.Gen.Tinyefuza vs Attorney General Constitutional Petition No.1 of 1996; “… it is imperative that the President complies with the letter and spirit of the law for, with respect, the whole nation learns from him. … Our government is the potent omnipresent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by example … If the government becomes lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law, it invites every man to become law unto himself, it invites anarchy.” We trust that His Excellency the President will heed these words of wisdom and ensure that the constitutional right to assemble, demonstrate peacefully and petition is not violated with impunity by security agencies.
11. We therefore urge the Uganda Police Force and its sister security agencies to respect this country’s Constitution as clearly interpreted by the Constitutional Court. The planned demonstration or protest should not be prohibited. The Police should adequately deploy to regulate its conduct so that it remains peaceful even if it may cause some disruptions to other lawful activities. Such disruptions are normal and envisaged in enjoyment of the right to demonstrate and petition. Once again, we appeal to the Uganda Police Force, please respect the law, decisions of the Constitutional Court and heed the voice of reason!
Dated 21st July 2024.
Signatories
Eron Kiiza
Phillip Karugaba
Jude Byamukama
Odur Anthony
Lillian Drabo
Stephen Kalali
Julius K Warugaba
Sarah Kihika Kasande
Peter Arinaitwe
