The dons referred to the genesis of Uganda’s troubles, starting with the 1966 events which saw Prime Minister Apollo Milton Obote surround Parliament with soldiers and force through his pigeonhole constitution, overthrowing the 1962 independence constitution.
“The trend of militarisation of politics is being re-enacted starting with the 2005 ‘Black Mamba’ invasion of the High court and now the siege of parliament and invasion of its chambers.
“All evidence points to the fact that the rape of the sanctity of parliament was deliberately planned to intimidate the legislators to pass an amendment that favours a single individual. We thus strongly condemn the actions of the executive, the military and police. It is actions like these which destroy the independence of institutions that are critical for democratic governance.”
The bill, which seeks to scrap Article 102 (b), capping the upper age for presidential candidates at 75 years, was tabled in parliament yesterday.
All 22 law dons signed yesterday’s statement which also condemned Speaker Rebecca Kadaga for her role in the events that have rocked parliament in recent days.
The executive director at the Uganda Communications Commission, Geofrey Mutabazi, was also condemned for issuing an unconstitutional directive banning live coverage of the debate in parliament.
Members of the legal fraternity are similarly criticised for the absurd and deliberate misleading of Ugandans with skewed interpretations of the Constitution.
They said amendments to Article 102 (b) of the constitution have nothing to do with discrimination of persons, as is being claimed by some lawyers.
“The view that Article 102(b) is discriminatory is legally unsound and untenable because it makes a mockery of all standard-setting provisions in the constitution,” the dons said, adding: “The constitution has many provisions that impose limitations relating to age, capacity, soundness of mind, the qualifications and retirement for public servants etc.”
Some members of parliament claim the upper age limit of 75 years discriminates against President Museveni who will be 77 years old in 2021 and not eligible to seek re-election.
Last week, the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga suspended 25 MPs opposed to the amendment after debate on Raphael Magyezi’s request for permission to table the bill turned violent.
The law dons criticised Kadaga for what they called “surrendering her power and thereby exposing parliament to the whims of the executive arm of government and in particular to sections of the army and police.”
Plain-clothed soldiers from the Special Forces Command stormed the parliamentary chamber and evicted the opposition MPs on September 27.
RECOMMENDATION
The dons recommend that parliament rescinds the motion allowing presentation of a private members bill to amend Article 102(b).
That all organs of the state and private actors respect the freedoms of expression of all including media freedoms, that the Uganda Human Rights Commission should take immediate action against all violators of human rights both within and outside parliament in connection to the age limit debate.
They also recommend that security forces desist from engaging in partisan politics and the political persecution of citizens opposed to the age limit amendment.
That all citizens of Uganda exercise their rights and duty under Article 3 to defend and protect the constitution.
alitwaha@observer.ug