Sunday, November 11, 2012

The 9th Parliament must shun MP Drito’s move with utter contempt


By Vincent Nuwagaba

Posted  Tuesday, September 4  2012 at  01:00
In Summary
Drito also reportedly stated thus, “This is a way of promoting democracy so that we have in our society a number of leaders whom we can bank on for advice in leadership when they leave office”. I am amazed that a whole Member of Parliament doesn’t know that democracy and impunity are not concomitant.
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I read with utter shock and consternation the September 2, Sunday Monitor story titled, “NRM legislator to table Bill on extending presidential immunity”. Already youth MP Peter Ogwang is busy seducing Museveni to come back in 2016; now MP Martin Drito is moving to desecrate our Constitution! What’s wrong with these MPs?
A Constitution is supposed to be a living document which shouldn’t be tinkered with all the time. The American Constitution which has lasted 225 years has had only 27 amendments. As for Uganda, like I stated before in these pages, I lose count of how many times our Constitution has been altered. A Constitutional amendment should be for the public good, not for shielding one particular individual or a small group of individuals.
Drito reportedly said, “The presidents when serving the country will be rest assured that when out of power, they will not be prosecuted because I am sure many of them must be scared of jail and any form of punishment when they are immunity-free”. I would like to assure Mr Drito that that’s exactly what rule of law means - that nobody whether the king or the president is above the law. Hon Drito’s move is utterly antithetical to rule of law.
Drito also reportedly stated thus, “This is a way of promoting democracy so that we have in our society a number of leaders whom we can bank on for advice in leadership when they leave office”. I am amazed that a whole Member of Parliament doesn’t know that democracy and impunity are not concomitant.
The proposed constitutional amendment will promote impunity and is antithetical to international law. With such a provision in our Constitution, we can get a heartless, greedy, insensitive and inconsiderate leader who will personalise state property, donate some to cronies and relatives, kill political opponents, abuse human rights with impunity; override all state institutions, including Parliament and the Judiciary and we have nothing to do. We don’t need in our society any human being who is clearly above the law.
Should Drito’s proposed Constitutional Amendment (Immunity for the outgoing President) Bill 2012 be passed (God forbid), we shall confirm that Parliament is anti-people. Our MPs should beware of introducing what Professor George Kanyeihamba calls constitutional viruses in our Constitution. In their wisdom, the framers of the 1995 Constitution knew well that all the immunity the President needs is what Article 98 provides.
Drito should be reminded that his move is the most unpatriotic move and he should totally erase it from his mind. President Museveni should also pronounce himself on this move and assure the nation that he is not behind this inglorious proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill.
At the height of the campaign to expunge the term limits provision which was provided for under Article 105(2) in our Constitution, some of us in civil society vehemently opposed the move for we knew it would set the country on a path to democratic reversals. Personally, I wrote many pieces in newspapers and spoke on the then popular Ekimezza. However, the unpatriotic Seventh Parliament members, went ahead and expunged the provision to pave way for President Museveni to rule until he gets tired.
Today, I see some of the MPs who voted to remove term limits championing the campaign to restore term limits. Drito may be in NRM today and he is safe because it is the ruling party. A few years from today he might find himself in the opposition. I don’t think he would like it when he is tortured and traumatised at the orders of a president who will be immune from prosecution even when he/she is out of power. There are many Ugandans who will never forgive the Seventh Parliament for desecrating our Constitution; I call upon the Ninth Parliament not to further desecrate our Constitution. Please, shun Drito’s move with the contempt it deserves. Only then can we truly say, For God and My Country.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender.
vnuwagaba@gmail.com

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