A consortium of 21 civil society organisations has today joined the chorus of Ugandans opposed the move by government to push for a constitutional amendment on land acquisition and the removal of presidential age limit.
CSOs say government’s proposal for compulsory acquisition of land before compensation will deprive Ugandans of their right to land while removal of age limit will be a slump in Uganda’s quest to attain total democracy.
Government has already tabled the Constitution Amendment Bill 2017 that seeks to amend article 26 of the Constitution to allow it acquire private land for public use before compensation of the owners. This move, government says, is because of a number of infrastructural projects have stalled because landowners either reject compensation or ask for too much.
At a meeting held at Foundation for Human Rights Initiative offices in Nsambya this morning, civil society groups said the amendment will contravene with article 26(b) (i) which makes it mandatory for such an amendment to provide for “prior” compensation in case of compulsory acquisition of land.
The activists note that whereas government should establish a tribunal to arbitrate among aggrieved parties in cases where the land owner puts up resistance, this clause has been ignored by the bill.
Andrew Karamagi, a city lawyer and activist, pointed out that the bill, if enacted into law, will also contravene Article 92 which restricts parliament from passing any law that seeks to alter the judgment of any court.
He referred his arguments to the constitutional appeal No. 02 of 2014 in the Supreme court of Uganda National Roads Authority Vs Irumba Asumani and Peter Majela where court declared that acts of possession of land prior to payment of compensation contravened the right to property as enshrined in the Constitution.
“According to us, this bill is a move by government to legalise land grabbing and Ugandans will not have anywhere to run to since even now when the constitution is clear, court cases are delayed,” Karamagi said.
Also in the making is the push for removal the presidential age limit cap of 75 years by groups and legislators within the ruling party, although official structures and the president himself dismiss these as allegations.
The CSOs say government’s desire to change the two provisions indicates that Uganda is now slowly sliding back to the 1975 times of Idi Amin when the vicious leader announced himself life president and also passed a decree that all land belonged to the government.
Dr Livingstone Sewanyana, the executive director of Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, told journalists that the land and age limit changes in the Constitution shouldn’t be looked at separately because they both show a worrying shift in the governance of the country.
“These two proposals are a threat to the political stability of Uganda. This must be made clear to the people that these proposals threaten the future of their country,” Sewanyana said.
In a press conference at State House on Wednesday, President Museveni scoffed at “idlers” debating the age limit, saying there was nothing of that nature going on.
Sewanyana believes the president knows exactly what is taking place and that his words are not different from those he said in 2005 when the term limits were abolished.
“We are not wasting time. People talking about the age limit are not idlers. If we are idle, this means that even those who are mobilising for it are idle. We need Ugandans to understand that this is the only safety valve this country is left with against presidential imperialism, a presidential monarch and life presidency,” Sewanyana said.
Proponents of age limit removal argue that many countries in the world do not have them, but Sewanyana said this doesn’t work for Uganda given its history of tyranny and that the country is “characterised by corruption, a culture of impunity and these countries have well organised and working political parties with checks and balances on any emerging dictatorship.”
Henry Nickson Ogwal, the executive director of Action Aid Uganda, said that no amount of threats and intimidation will stop the consortium in their bid to block the said Constitution amendments.
“These proposals are in bad faith. The question is not what we as civil society are going to do but what Ugandans are going to do and we are not going to entertain any kind of intimidation,” Ogwal said.
The activists are determined to use all means available to ensure that the public understands the negative effects of such amendments.
“We are going to take our issues to parliament and we shall interface with all stakeholders because this is a matter of national importance,” Sewanyana said.
Meanwhile, legislators opposed to the constitutional amendments, under their Parliamentary Forum on Constitutional and Human Rights, have launched a nationwide awareness campaign with their initial rally staged at Mpugwe, Bukoto East in Masaka district.
Led by DP’s Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi, the MPs reportedly include some ruling party members.