Makerere University law don Joe Oloka-Onyango last week accused President Museveni of acting in contempt of court by nominating new Electoral Commission (EC) members without having the electoral laws reformed.
Oloka-Onyango spoke at the launch of the book, Controlling Consent: Uganda’s 2016 Elections, in Kampala. He based his argument on calls for reform by the Supreme court in its judgment of the Amama Mbabazi petition challenging President Museveni’s re-election in February.
Oloka-Onyango and Josephine Ahikire co-edited the 540-page book, written by a combination of scholars and political and human rights activists. The book was published by Africa World Press (AWP), based in New Jersey, USA.
“The court told the attorney general [to enact] concrete reforms, [but] they [government] have failed to do so, which means that it is in contempt of the Supreme court,” Oloka-Onyango said.
During its launch at Centre for Basic Research offices in Kololo, Oloka-Onyango said he was frustrated that Parliament approved the new commissioners. The EC, he said, had to be part of the reforms envisaged by court.
“You have to appreciate that the structure of the EC was designed under the 1995 constitution [which] was implemented in a movement system of government, not a multiparty system. The constitution needs to be changed in order to reflect the multiparty system,” Oloka-Onyango said.
On December 5, NRM MPs on Parliament’s appointments committee approved the new EC leaders – after the opposition boycotted the vetting session.
The new commissioners, led by Justice Simon Byabakama Mugenyi, was appointed on November 17 after the expiry of the terms of most members of the Badru Kiggundu-led team.
The appointments took the opposition by surprise since during their interaction with Museveni under the Interparty Organisation for Dialogue, they had suggested that he should wait for the electoral laws to be amended.
Before the February 18 elections, opposition parties and civil society groups called for several electoral and political reforms to guarantee free and fair elections. But government ignored them.
2021 ELECTIONS
Professor Oloka-Onyango also argued that the hurried nomination of a new EC and Museveni’s ongoing Kisanja Hakuna Mchezo (a term of no jokes) campaign have a particular implication for the 2021 elections. As Museveni campaigns, the opposition is mired in internal squabbles, instead of organising for 2021.
“The opposition political parties need to improve their internal democracies because you cannot give democracy when you yourself are not democratic,” Oloka-Onyango said.
Presiding at the launch was the state minister for disaster preparedness, Hilary Onek, who read Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda’s speech. He pledged that government would consider the issues raised in the book.
sadabkk@observer.ug