Vincent Nuwagaba
In 2003, James Kakooza, Member of
Parliament representing Kabula county was the fanatical architect of what some
Ugandans called the “third term” campaign for Museveni although some others
called it a sad term which my lecturer for constitutionalism, diplomacy and
international law Philip KasaijaApuuli preferred to call a lugubrious term.
Kakooza printed T-shirts with the label MMM which he opportunistically described
as Museveni, Movement and Me. It now appears, we are now in the era of MMM for
virtually all NRM MPs. I have christened August 6, “Black Tuesday” and I call
upon all Ugandans and lovers of Uganda to mark it as a day of mourning. Every
first Tuesday in the month of August should henceforth be set aside for
remembering the day when our NRM Members of Parliament tied a rope in the
citizens' necks. On this particular day, MPs legally but illegitimately tied a
rope in our a rope in our necks, gave a green light to the often partisan
police to pull the rope thereby strangling us and allowed the courts the courts
to bury us. We should cry very loud so that good Samaritans can come and save
us.
The passage of the bill and the
subsequent silence of the population as though nothing happened is a function
of a very weak civil society. We have an elitist civil society with NGOs
standing at the top of its strata. Trade Unions are hardly heard, Faith Based
Organisations have largely preoccupied themselves with giving charity; students
unions are almost inexistent and if at all they do exist they are totally
silent. The national youths council is under the armpit of the NRM and so is
the Pan African Movement and the trade unions. The unemployed graduates are not
organised and issues of public concern have been left to the NRM
parliamentarians whose motto is MMM which stands for Museveni, Movement and Me.
This implies all NRM MPs think about is Museveni, their party and themselves.
Cry beloved pearl of Africa!
I am convinced that with more than
10,000 NGOs, a plethora of Community Based Organisations (CBOs), so many Faith
Based Organizations (FBOs), more than 40 trade unions, Ugandans should ask,
“how come, only a few voices from key NGO workers are heard condemning the
passage of the draconian bill?”. And I must applaud those who publicly
condemned the passage of the bill. Foundation for Human Rights Initiative's
Livingstone Sewanyana, Centre for Constitutional Governance, Human Rights
Network and Bishop ZacNiringiye among others. Nevertheless, the voices are
still too few to be heard loud and clear. My conviction is that we need a
value-for-money audit of Uganda's CSOs.
Makerere University don
MwambusyaNdebesa believes that we have not yet evolved into civil society because
we largely hear NGOs speak for the citizens but without them. His argument is
that civil society should organically grow from the grassroots but what we have
is a mechanically developed (my words) civil society whose foundation are the
NGOs that are formed from the top by the elites.
I implore members who passed the
bill to read DrMuniiniMulera's article titled “Public Order Management Bill
will consume its midwives” to see how Basil Bataringaya, the once Obote 1's
powerful interior minister enginereed the enactment of State of emergence laws
which were later to be used to incarcerate him. Accordingly, our dear
parliamentarians have made themselves a three cord string that will be used to
hang them. I wouldn't mind so much if they were the only ones to be
affected since my grandfather ShwenkuruFabianoBifabusha
used to tell me, “oyeyitsiretacuriirwa” meaning people don't mourn a
person that commits suicide. I only pity us the innocent and the children of
the members that passed the obnoxious bill.
President Museveni may not be a
victim of this imminent bad law but certainly MPs will fall victim to it. Time
never lies. Certainly also, some if not of his children and grandchildren will
fall victim to the bad law. I am passionately opposed to the bill not because I
hate its architects and those who passed it. I oppose it not because I hate
YoweriMuseveni, AmamaMbabazi or my area Member of Parliament General
KahindaOtafiire. I am opposed to it not because I hate IGP Gen Kale Kayihura or
my brother Frank Tumwebaze minister for the presidency. I surely love these
people unconditionally partly because God is love but also they are personally
known to me and some related to me. I oppose all unjust laws because I
fervently love justice. I definitely abhor much of what these people do but I
still love them.
I do not know how many shouted Aye in support of the bill but I know
they are a tiny minority compared to the 30 million plus who strongly oppose
it. I saw PremierAmamaMbabazi label the opposition Members of Parliament wild
animals and I was baffled. When he argued that the majority had supported the
bill I became even more confused. Does he know how many people are going to
live in bondage by being forced to be subservient to this soon-to-be law
awaiting presidential assent? Did MrMbabazi read the works of John Locke while
at Makerere's law school?
I read Frank Tumwebaze's article
in the New Vision of Tuesday 14, August and I couldn't decipher what he meant.
At least, minister Tumwebaze knows that we fairly understand the English
language. He is telling us to petition the courts of law when our activities
have already been blocked by the police! Is the law aimed at keeping the
opposition in courts of law thereby curtailing their activities? This
particular law is worse than the 1995 constitutional provisions that banned
political party activities.
We must, nevertheless, defy it and
readily and willingly accept any penalty. Personally, I will not accept to be
disenfranchised, dehumanised and oppressed by a law passed by below the average
Members of Parliament whose actions point to the dearth of the capacity to
foretell the ramifications of the laws they enact. If I am ever to have charges
proffered against me emanating from this imminent law, I will not enter plea of
not guilty. If opposing injustice is a crime, I will gladly accept to be
convicted and I will not enter mitigation to pray for a lenient sentence. With
public universities being inaccessible to the poor; with the total collapse of
the health-care system; with the dearth if not death of justice in our judicial
system, I am ready to lose everything dear and near to me in the line of duty.
If it takes shedding my blood to
water the tree of freedom, so be it. I will live in my country as a citizen not
a subject. I will not hand the key to the door of my freedoms and rights to the
police. The law awaiting presidential assent is politically imprudent, morally
repugnant and an invitation to anarchy. It is anarchy made legal and its
defiance by all well-meaning citizens brooks no delay.
MrNuwagaba is a human rights
scholar and defender.
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