Vincent Nuwagaba
On the 9th and 10th December, Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate International Anti-corruption Day and Human Rights Day respectively. Uganda has ratified core human rights instruments and the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), the African Union Convention for Preventing and Combating Corruption. We’ve also domesticated anti-corruption instruments by enacting the Anti-corruption Act 2009 and the Whistle Blowers Act 2010. Sadly, the Ugandan government is now a vehicle whose engine is fuelled and lubricated by corruption. This leads to erosion of human rights because corruption deprives the government of resources necessary to provide for positive rights and any agitation for those rights is met with excessive brutality. While Uganda has in place institutions meant to promote human rights and good governance, it is self-evident that these institutions are largely for window-dressing purposes. Accordingly, they neither promote human rights nor fight corruption effectively. At least, I haven’t seen a robust condemnation by the National Human Rights Institution of the phony treason charges against Sam Mugumya, Francis Mwijukye and Ingrid Turinawe.
Unfortunately while we commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, few of us understand what human rights mean. Ugandans relegate positive rights even when the government ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1987. Ironically, many human rights organisations also tend to be obsessed with civil liberties and political rights but few of them are forthright and upfront on socio-economic rights. Yet these are the critical rights since they address bread and butter issues. The 1993 Vienna World Conference on human rights affirmed that “human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birthright
of all human beings; their protection and promotion is the first responsibility of Governments”.
It further stressed the universality, indivisibility, interrelatedness and interdependence of all human rights and that all human rights must be treated in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing with the same emphasis. Talk about the suppression of protests, all the human rights groups will be up in arms; hike fees in public universities leading to the denial of access to higher education to the majority, none of them gets concerned.
The raison d’être for the human rights movement is human dignity. The cardinal principles of human rights - equality and nondiscrimination are aimed at ensuring human dignity. How can Ugandans live in dignity when they can hardly take their children to schools; when they hardly access health facilities; when they rarely get jobs on merit?
Look at the plight of teachers and the rank and file members of the police, military and prisons. Policemen who stay in asbestos roofed houses risk contracting lung cancer because of inhaling the air contaminated with asbestos. Policemen feed on posho and beans from December to December. They hardly afford fees for their children because the government remits less than Sh2,000 per pupil under “Universal Primary Education” (UPE) and a paltry Sh41,000 per student under “Universal Secondary Education” (USE). Yet, the NRM manifesto says in part that “The NRM Government will strictly observe the Education Act 2008 that outlaws payments of any kind of fees in UPE, USE and BTVET schools. NRM will not tolerate any charges imposed by head teachers or parents associations”. Three questions arise: 1) Doesn’t the NRM Government know that children pay huge sums in UPE and USE schools? 2) How does the government expect schools to run with token remittances? 3) If the government is not aware of this fact, doesn’t it portend the utter absence of the state from the lives of the citizens? Clearly, UPE and USE are pipedreams.
The Ugandan human rights crusade rarely attracts the full support of majority Ugandans because the message hardly dovetails with the interests of the masses. What do numerous civil society organisations (CSOs) that we have exactly do? Apart from writing accountability reports to the donors, do the numerous CSOs account to the citizens on whose behalf they get funding? How many organisations do public interest litigation? Do CSOs effectively hold government to account? Are human rights organisations transparent and accountable? As we commemorate the human rights day, we need to ask ourselves, as human rights defenders, are we up to the task?
The writer is a human rights defender
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Human rights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Human rights. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2012
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
In today’s Uganda criticism is sabotage and opposition is treason
Vincent Nuwagaba
The Ugandan government is very humorous. Humorous indeed! I am amazed that the A4C members have been charged with treason. It is baffling that the government has deliberately refused or inadvertently failed to deliver social services – what Robert Rotberg calls political goods and has instead chosen to associate dissenters with treason and terrorism. Why on earth do Ugandans part with huge sums of taxes if the government cannot deliver? On Monday 17th October, we met the Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander Commissioner Andrew Kawesi demanding the release of Makerere University student Allan Mutagubya who was arrested and detained together with A4C members. Kawesi spoke to us in a patronising and condescending manner; he blackmailed some of us. I told him that his duty was to serve the state and he shouldn’t involve himself in politics. We know the president has told us the IGP is a ruling party cadre which is lamentable but that is no justification for other police officers to follow suit. I think ruling party cadres should get jobs at the NRM secretariat.
Sadly, in today’s Uganda, criticism is construed to mean sabotage and opposition is construed to mean treason and terrorism. Such a practice is unsustainable. Personally, I have often told the Police to use the guns to defend Ugandans including peaceful protesters. I have often told the police that the activists are not their enemies but their allies. Not so long ago, the opposition MPs suggested salary increment for the police, the prison warders, teachers and the military. Sadly, the NRM MPs flatly rejected the proposal by the opposition. So, who is an enemy?
While addressing the press, I saw the IGP referring to the Police as “my police”. This is detestable, deplorable and abhorrent. You can see how state institutions have been personalised. I also heard on Radio that the Uganda Human Rights Commission Chairman Mr Med Kaggwa condemned the Walk to walk campaign and described it as illegal. Mr Med Kaggwa must know that he is no longer a ruling party politician but a head of an institution that has quasi judicial powers. It is prejudicial that he has already convicted people who legally are innocent until proved guilty. Is he going to be relied upon to protect the opposition members’ rights objectively? That some other human rights defenders condemned the walk-to-work campaign arguing that it would disrupt exams baffled me. If I may ask, who of the activists intended to walk to examination halls? And by the way, why can’t we the human rights activists urge the police to refrain from interfering with the protesters? As long as one doesn’t interfere with other people’s rights, they have the rights to protest and/or demonstrate peacefully alone or with others. While it is fair that we, human rights defenders be concerned with students’ right to do exams without any interference, it is the right of all other people to express their disillusionment with the status quo. I don’t think others should have their rights curtailed because of some other interest groups.
The guns in the hands of the police and the military are not meant to brutalise dissenters but to protect them. Logically, the government should know that it is imprudent to keep guns in the hands of people who are malnourished, poorly remunerated, poorly accommodated. Ugandan police and military are hungry, angry and impoverished and they cannot be relied upon not to abuse and misuse the arms in their hands. Dissent cannot be arrested by charging dissenters with treason. The solution is to arrest the socio-economic doldrums Ugandans are mired into. Many Ugandans are tired for some cannot have their children attain university education; university graduates hardly get jobs and many have been pushed into hopelessness, normlessness and frustration. Any attempt to frame their mouthpieces as treasonous will further push them against the wall and the results will be disastrous.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
The Ugandan government is very humorous. Humorous indeed! I am amazed that the A4C members have been charged with treason. It is baffling that the government has deliberately refused or inadvertently failed to deliver social services – what Robert Rotberg calls political goods and has instead chosen to associate dissenters with treason and terrorism. Why on earth do Ugandans part with huge sums of taxes if the government cannot deliver? On Monday 17th October, we met the Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander Commissioner Andrew Kawesi demanding the release of Makerere University student Allan Mutagubya who was arrested and detained together with A4C members. Kawesi spoke to us in a patronising and condescending manner; he blackmailed some of us. I told him that his duty was to serve the state and he shouldn’t involve himself in politics. We know the president has told us the IGP is a ruling party cadre which is lamentable but that is no justification for other police officers to follow suit. I think ruling party cadres should get jobs at the NRM secretariat.
Sadly, in today’s Uganda, criticism is construed to mean sabotage and opposition is construed to mean treason and terrorism. Such a practice is unsustainable. Personally, I have often told the Police to use the guns to defend Ugandans including peaceful protesters. I have often told the police that the activists are not their enemies but their allies. Not so long ago, the opposition MPs suggested salary increment for the police, the prison warders, teachers and the military. Sadly, the NRM MPs flatly rejected the proposal by the opposition. So, who is an enemy?
While addressing the press, I saw the IGP referring to the Police as “my police”. This is detestable, deplorable and abhorrent. You can see how state institutions have been personalised. I also heard on Radio that the Uganda Human Rights Commission Chairman Mr Med Kaggwa condemned the Walk to walk campaign and described it as illegal. Mr Med Kaggwa must know that he is no longer a ruling party politician but a head of an institution that has quasi judicial powers. It is prejudicial that he has already convicted people who legally are innocent until proved guilty. Is he going to be relied upon to protect the opposition members’ rights objectively? That some other human rights defenders condemned the walk-to-work campaign arguing that it would disrupt exams baffled me. If I may ask, who of the activists intended to walk to examination halls? And by the way, why can’t we the human rights activists urge the police to refrain from interfering with the protesters? As long as one doesn’t interfere with other people’s rights, they have the rights to protest and/or demonstrate peacefully alone or with others. While it is fair that we, human rights defenders be concerned with students’ right to do exams without any interference, it is the right of all other people to express their disillusionment with the status quo. I don’t think others should have their rights curtailed because of some other interest groups.
The guns in the hands of the police and the military are not meant to brutalise dissenters but to protect them. Logically, the government should know that it is imprudent to keep guns in the hands of people who are malnourished, poorly remunerated, poorly accommodated. Ugandan police and military are hungry, angry and impoverished and they cannot be relied upon not to abuse and misuse the arms in their hands. Dissent cannot be arrested by charging dissenters with treason. The solution is to arrest the socio-economic doldrums Ugandans are mired into. Many Ugandans are tired for some cannot have their children attain university education; university graduates hardly get jobs and many have been pushed into hopelessness, normlessness and frustration. Any attempt to frame their mouthpieces as treasonous will further push them against the wall and the results will be disastrous.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
mpvessynuwagaba@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Museveni is now a captive of his own deeds
May 1, 11 12:10 PM
I have read with concern the remarks by the president on the closure of the Interreligious Council meeting and I felt duty-bound to respond.
For how long does it take a leader to generate electricity in his country – ten years; twenty years or fifty years? Doesn’t this mean that a whole generation can be condemned to poverty if a leader celebrates a silver jubilee in power and he is still talking about basic infrastructure? If we have not got those basic needs in such a long time, what guarantee is there that we shall get them in a period whose duration we don’t know?
That professor Oloka Onyango is poisoning our children with lies in Makerere: Is Professor Oloka-Onyango the one who promised a fundamental change and all we are seeing instead is no change? I would like to know whether Museveni is a taxpayer and Oloka-Onyango is not.
That if they were dictators, Professor Oloka-Onyango wouldn’t be alive teaching in Makerere depending on taxpayers’ money while poisoning their children: I find this absurd. All I know is Prof Oloka-Onyango is a Ugandan taxpayer and he is in that university not as a favour but because he qualifies to be there. Is this not a veiled threat against the good professor? By the way, although, Professor Oloka Onyango is alive it doesn’t mean there aren’t other people who have died at the hands of the state operatives who ironically are supposed to protect them. The Anglican prayer book says, “Constantly speak he truth; boldly rebuke vice and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake”. I applaud Professor Oloka for speaking the truth although it sounds unpalatable to those wielding power.
Since the president wants the truth, let him tell us why he never retired as he promised on page 11 in his manifesto in 2001? Let him tell us why we don’t have community polytechnics that he promised in 1996? Let him tell us whether it is not him that has ordered the brutalizing of the opposition leaders?
The country’s concern is not whether or not Museveni has won elections. The major concern is whether the president is doing what he is mandated to do. Is he delivering according to our expectation? In 2009, within a week that students were reporting, the government instead of funding public universities endorsed an increment of tuition fee up to 126%. It was never 40% as our media houses reported. I personally wrote to the president complaining about this unfair development. We took a petition to parliament with clear reasons as to why we opposed the increment. Rather than listening to us, I had to serve a jail sentence on trumped up charges of assault and threatening violence on top of being brutally tortured by the police who even stole my money. Right now, it is difficult for professors to sponsor their own children in a university in which they teach. We have a collapsed health system; public servants including Professor Oloka-Onyango whom the president said, should go and hang, are paid peanuts! Yet the president and his apparatchiks live in glamour, grandeur, sumptuousness, opulence, pomp, pageantry and ostentation!
All we need is not only political but also financial accountability for our money. We part with thirty percent every month in Pay As You Earn which Andrew Mwenda used to call Pay As Yoweri Earns, we part with 18 percent on Value Added Tax on each commodity we purchase and a host of other taxes and the president insults whoever asks him for accountability. We know we cannot have credible elections organized by the commission hand-picked by the president. Given the power of incumbency, it is only somnambulists who would think, Museveni could be beaten at the polls organised by him. Some of his spin doctors who have always argued that Museveni won clean and square have testified that he used about 1 trillion shillings from taxpayers’ money and some from his friends. How, then, can we have a free and fair election where the incumbent is using taxpayers’ money. And not just taxpayers’ money but colossal sums of taxpayers money!
That the radios never gave unfair advantage to the president: Virtually all the upcountry radio stations are owned by NRM members – some of them ministers and members of parliament. Amama Mbabazi, Igeme Nabeta, Nuru Byamukama, Jim Muhwezi, Mike Mukula etc. Moreover, the state-owned radio, UBC and those owned by Vision Group of companies also favoured the incumbent. So who is speaking the truth?
That incumbency didn’t favour Museveni because he had to divide his time for campaigns and national duties: Because he was a candidate and a president at the same time, he couldn’t distinguish between Museveni the presidential candidate and Museveni the president. This gave him an unfair advantage over other candidates as he used state funds to solicit for his votes and the votes for the NRM candidates. He should account for the more than 600 billion shillings supplementary budget which was passed during the campaigns and hardly after a month the finance minister said, government was broke! The 20 million shillings given to MPs reportedly for supervising the NAADS programme in the heat of the campaigns was rightly construed to be a bribe.
That incumbency is a disadvantage is a blatant lie. He should know that the people he was addressing – religious leaders are very informed people. Some of them have Phds. Because of incumbency, he began and has always began his campaigns before other candidates in the guise of “prosperity for all”, monitoring government programmes and so forth using taxpayers’ money. In fact, during these tours, the president hands over brown envelopes containing cash to a number of people which is also construed to be a bribe to the electorate.
I don’t think the president has the moral authority to talk about politicians who lie. This really is a case of a pot calling a kettle black. Sadly, whoever speaks the truth, Museveni labels such a person a liar.
I think careerists in politics are people who look at politics as a career. I would want to know, apart from politics, what other office has Museveni ever occupied since he finished university in 1969 if I am not mistaken? He has been in power for quarter a century now; twenty five years down the line, he is still talking of the vision. I don’t know whether his vision will be realised in 2050. If president Museveni is not a career politician, he should kindly tell us which other Ugandan is a career politician.
That the culture of giving money to voters has been started by these young careerists:
Again, the president is at it. His cadres in Bushenyi – Nasser Bassajabalaba, Hassan Basajabalaba, Willis Bashasha were openly buying votes for him and for themselves. So who does he blame? Does he want to say that the opposition had more money to buy votes than the NRM? In every cell, at least in my home county Ruhinda a chairman was given Shs120,000 and there were thirty people each of whom was given 5,000 shillings. This is the amount of money that everyone knows about. But also on the eve of voting and on the voting day, NRM cadres were distributing cash and other valuables. So who are these careerists buying votes?
If the president doesn’t want people to call the gifts and brown envelopes bribes, he should stop using taxpayers’ money. He should use his own money but also the prctice will be suspect when it takes place during the campaign period. Otherwise, taxpayers are entitled to know the criterion followed while giving those gifts. I would also need to know whether it is a constitutional duty for the president to give gifts to religious leaders. And, incidentally, we would wish to know whether the groups or people that the president often gives gifts are the neediest people. When a president gives a Land Cruiser to a bishop, it follows that many people of his flock may be swayed by the act of charity to the bishop.
That the president wants to push for the amendment of the constitution to deny certain categories of offenders bail raises suspicion. I know some opposition figures may soon be charged with treason and terrorism and this amendment could be aimed at denying them bail. The president again wants the people who are presumed innocent to continue being penalized like the practice is. If he abhors the practice of giving bail to the murderers he should begin by locking up Ofwono Opondo who killed a person at Kitante Primary school sometime back and he continues walking with his head high.
About term limits: I am amazed that the man who stated in black and white that Africa’s problem are the leaders who overstay in power is the one praising the desecration of our constitution by removing the most sacrosanct provision. The Banyankore say, nowahinga ahorobi ayinuka which means, even if one is tilling a soft ground, time reaches when they have to retire. I want to state, like Shakespeare stated, the world is a theatre; man comes, plays his part and then goes. In our neighbourhood here in Tanzania, Hassan Mwinyi is alive, Ben Mkapa is alive; Nyerere didn’t die in power; Daniel Arap Moi is around in Kenya; what’s so unique with us here?
On unemployment: There seems to me, to be a deliberate move by the regime to keep many Ugandans jobless. I have stated elsewhere that in Uganda, the biggest unemployment problem we are facing is graduate unemployment. Yet all Ugandan universities have produced not more than 300,000 graduates. Out of these, a sizeable number is from neighbouring countries – Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan, among others because Uganda was and still is an education hub. These foreigners often go back after finishing their studies. We also have very few people studying from outside Uganda – notably those from topnotch families. Accordingly, genuine Ugandans with university degrees are not more than 200,000 (two hundred thousand). Why they don’t get jobs is simply because jobs are given on patronage basis to friends, relatives and in-laws of the political elites most of who forge academic documents from Nasser Road. The president was recently quoted in the New Vision saying the unemployed should sell juice and fruits! I have stated before that those that are not well educated are comfortably employed as Boda Boda cyclists, shoe shiners, barbers, wheel barrow pushers, fruit vendors, house maids and house boys and so forth. Now you see the the solution that the president has for the unemployment problem!
Way forward
On the problem of graduate unemployment, the government must ask all the employers whether in the private sector or public sector to verify the credentials of the people they employ with the respective institutions those people claim to have studied from. If you get a Makerere University transcript from Nasser Road, you will be unearthed if your document is taken to Makerere for verification and you don’t appear in Makerere University database. If you have a forged A or O level certificate, government must check with UNEB and the schools named. As things unfold, Besigye’s tormentor may have forged documents to obtain a degree. Otherwise, what describes a discrepancy between the names he used in the lower levels of education and the ones he uses now?
Government must make sure higher education including university education is accessible on merit not on the basis of affluence. University fees in public universities are too much to bear by the ordinary person but also by most employees including civil servants. Accordingly, government must reduce tuition fees as the president promised during his campaigns but also increase funding to the universities for research and enhancement of the academic staff salaries.
The government promised to launch a students’ loan scheme which the president promised even before he started his campaigns. This loan scheme is long overdue and it should cater for all those that have dropped out of universities on account of failing to raise tuition fees. I am sure, since other countries have managed it, Uganda also must.
Government must increase the salaries of all employees and urge the private employers to increase the remuneration for their employs to match with the rising costs of living.
Government must intervene by cutting the fuel taxes but also taxes on all other commodity prices. I find the argument that when government reduces taxes, there will be no money for roads and electricity lame. The state is there for the good of its citizens. There are immediate needs that need to be prioritized and these are survival needs.
Government must bring to book all regime supporters that have flagrantly abused the law. We cannot accept a situation where criminality is condoned as long as it is done in support of the sitting regime. There must be a distinction between the state and the regime. Accordingly, Gilbert Arinaitwe Bwana who tortured, tormented and traumatized Dr Besigye should immediately be brought to book; Ofwono Opondo who shot a person in broad day light should also be prosecuted; Kale Kayihura a man under whose supervision Gilbert Arinaitwe Bwana works should also be brought to book.
The dialogue that government is proposing with the opposition is meaningless if the above issues are not handled. We demand to live in a country where our dignity as human beings is respected.
Finally, if shillings 1.8 trillion that has been unconstitutionally appropriated to buy fighter jets, (I don’t know what for) was to be distributed among 100,000 unemployed graduates, each one would get 18million shillings to be able to begin a job for himself/herself. It is nauseating and disgusting to find that our graduates have become paupers and criminals of all sorts just because they cannot get what to do when the government misallocates resources.
The recommendations I have given are by no means exhaustive but they will inevitably endear the government to the citizens if they worked upon. If they are disregarded, the government will further alienate itself from the citizens and calls by the opposition to withdraw the social contract will always attract public attention. It is futile for the ruling party to think that it will continuously buy votes, manipulate and deceive the masses to stay in power. Even if that is successfully done, some of us who know what the government should do will continue to protest. Incidentally, some people have chosen to go to prison in protest. At least, Honourable Mao told me when I visited him in Luzira that even by being in prison, he was protesting. Mr President, please, never ever think of criminalizing protests against the government. Thomas Jefferson said, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”. Accordingly, people who express dissent with the manner in which government is run are not saboteurs; they are not traitors but the greatest patriots.
Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
I have read with concern the remarks by the president on the closure of the Interreligious Council meeting and I felt duty-bound to respond.
For how long does it take a leader to generate electricity in his country – ten years; twenty years or fifty years? Doesn’t this mean that a whole generation can be condemned to poverty if a leader celebrates a silver jubilee in power and he is still talking about basic infrastructure? If we have not got those basic needs in such a long time, what guarantee is there that we shall get them in a period whose duration we don’t know?
That professor Oloka Onyango is poisoning our children with lies in Makerere: Is Professor Oloka-Onyango the one who promised a fundamental change and all we are seeing instead is no change? I would like to know whether Museveni is a taxpayer and Oloka-Onyango is not.
That if they were dictators, Professor Oloka-Onyango wouldn’t be alive teaching in Makerere depending on taxpayers’ money while poisoning their children: I find this absurd. All I know is Prof Oloka-Onyango is a Ugandan taxpayer and he is in that university not as a favour but because he qualifies to be there. Is this not a veiled threat against the good professor? By the way, although, Professor Oloka Onyango is alive it doesn’t mean there aren’t other people who have died at the hands of the state operatives who ironically are supposed to protect them. The Anglican prayer book says, “Constantly speak he truth; boldly rebuke vice and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake”. I applaud Professor Oloka for speaking the truth although it sounds unpalatable to those wielding power.
Since the president wants the truth, let him tell us why he never retired as he promised on page 11 in his manifesto in 2001? Let him tell us why we don’t have community polytechnics that he promised in 1996? Let him tell us whether it is not him that has ordered the brutalizing of the opposition leaders?
The country’s concern is not whether or not Museveni has won elections. The major concern is whether the president is doing what he is mandated to do. Is he delivering according to our expectation? In 2009, within a week that students were reporting, the government instead of funding public universities endorsed an increment of tuition fee up to 126%. It was never 40% as our media houses reported. I personally wrote to the president complaining about this unfair development. We took a petition to parliament with clear reasons as to why we opposed the increment. Rather than listening to us, I had to serve a jail sentence on trumped up charges of assault and threatening violence on top of being brutally tortured by the police who even stole my money. Right now, it is difficult for professors to sponsor their own children in a university in which they teach. We have a collapsed health system; public servants including Professor Oloka-Onyango whom the president said, should go and hang, are paid peanuts! Yet the president and his apparatchiks live in glamour, grandeur, sumptuousness, opulence, pomp, pageantry and ostentation!
All we need is not only political but also financial accountability for our money. We part with thirty percent every month in Pay As You Earn which Andrew Mwenda used to call Pay As Yoweri Earns, we part with 18 percent on Value Added Tax on each commodity we purchase and a host of other taxes and the president insults whoever asks him for accountability. We know we cannot have credible elections organized by the commission hand-picked by the president. Given the power of incumbency, it is only somnambulists who would think, Museveni could be beaten at the polls organised by him. Some of his spin doctors who have always argued that Museveni won clean and square have testified that he used about 1 trillion shillings from taxpayers’ money and some from his friends. How, then, can we have a free and fair election where the incumbent is using taxpayers’ money. And not just taxpayers’ money but colossal sums of taxpayers money!
That the radios never gave unfair advantage to the president: Virtually all the upcountry radio stations are owned by NRM members – some of them ministers and members of parliament. Amama Mbabazi, Igeme Nabeta, Nuru Byamukama, Jim Muhwezi, Mike Mukula etc. Moreover, the state-owned radio, UBC and those owned by Vision Group of companies also favoured the incumbent. So who is speaking the truth?
That incumbency didn’t favour Museveni because he had to divide his time for campaigns and national duties: Because he was a candidate and a president at the same time, he couldn’t distinguish between Museveni the presidential candidate and Museveni the president. This gave him an unfair advantage over other candidates as he used state funds to solicit for his votes and the votes for the NRM candidates. He should account for the more than 600 billion shillings supplementary budget which was passed during the campaigns and hardly after a month the finance minister said, government was broke! The 20 million shillings given to MPs reportedly for supervising the NAADS programme in the heat of the campaigns was rightly construed to be a bribe.
That incumbency is a disadvantage is a blatant lie. He should know that the people he was addressing – religious leaders are very informed people. Some of them have Phds. Because of incumbency, he began and has always began his campaigns before other candidates in the guise of “prosperity for all”, monitoring government programmes and so forth using taxpayers’ money. In fact, during these tours, the president hands over brown envelopes containing cash to a number of people which is also construed to be a bribe to the electorate.
I don’t think the president has the moral authority to talk about politicians who lie. This really is a case of a pot calling a kettle black. Sadly, whoever speaks the truth, Museveni labels such a person a liar.
I think careerists in politics are people who look at politics as a career. I would want to know, apart from politics, what other office has Museveni ever occupied since he finished university in 1969 if I am not mistaken? He has been in power for quarter a century now; twenty five years down the line, he is still talking of the vision. I don’t know whether his vision will be realised in 2050. If president Museveni is not a career politician, he should kindly tell us which other Ugandan is a career politician.
That the culture of giving money to voters has been started by these young careerists:
Again, the president is at it. His cadres in Bushenyi – Nasser Bassajabalaba, Hassan Basajabalaba, Willis Bashasha were openly buying votes for him and for themselves. So who does he blame? Does he want to say that the opposition had more money to buy votes than the NRM? In every cell, at least in my home county Ruhinda a chairman was given Shs120,000 and there were thirty people each of whom was given 5,000 shillings. This is the amount of money that everyone knows about. But also on the eve of voting and on the voting day, NRM cadres were distributing cash and other valuables. So who are these careerists buying votes?
If the president doesn’t want people to call the gifts and brown envelopes bribes, he should stop using taxpayers’ money. He should use his own money but also the prctice will be suspect when it takes place during the campaign period. Otherwise, taxpayers are entitled to know the criterion followed while giving those gifts. I would also need to know whether it is a constitutional duty for the president to give gifts to religious leaders. And, incidentally, we would wish to know whether the groups or people that the president often gives gifts are the neediest people. When a president gives a Land Cruiser to a bishop, it follows that many people of his flock may be swayed by the act of charity to the bishop.
That the president wants to push for the amendment of the constitution to deny certain categories of offenders bail raises suspicion. I know some opposition figures may soon be charged with treason and terrorism and this amendment could be aimed at denying them bail. The president again wants the people who are presumed innocent to continue being penalized like the practice is. If he abhors the practice of giving bail to the murderers he should begin by locking up Ofwono Opondo who killed a person at Kitante Primary school sometime back and he continues walking with his head high.
About term limits: I am amazed that the man who stated in black and white that Africa’s problem are the leaders who overstay in power is the one praising the desecration of our constitution by removing the most sacrosanct provision. The Banyankore say, nowahinga ahorobi ayinuka which means, even if one is tilling a soft ground, time reaches when they have to retire. I want to state, like Shakespeare stated, the world is a theatre; man comes, plays his part and then goes. In our neighbourhood here in Tanzania, Hassan Mwinyi is alive, Ben Mkapa is alive; Nyerere didn’t die in power; Daniel Arap Moi is around in Kenya; what’s so unique with us here?
On unemployment: There seems to me, to be a deliberate move by the regime to keep many Ugandans jobless. I have stated elsewhere that in Uganda, the biggest unemployment problem we are facing is graduate unemployment. Yet all Ugandan universities have produced not more than 300,000 graduates. Out of these, a sizeable number is from neighbouring countries – Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan, among others because Uganda was and still is an education hub. These foreigners often go back after finishing their studies. We also have very few people studying from outside Uganda – notably those from topnotch families. Accordingly, genuine Ugandans with university degrees are not more than 200,000 (two hundred thousand). Why they don’t get jobs is simply because jobs are given on patronage basis to friends, relatives and in-laws of the political elites most of who forge academic documents from Nasser Road. The president was recently quoted in the New Vision saying the unemployed should sell juice and fruits! I have stated before that those that are not well educated are comfortably employed as Boda Boda cyclists, shoe shiners, barbers, wheel barrow pushers, fruit vendors, house maids and house boys and so forth. Now you see the the solution that the president has for the unemployment problem!
Way forward
On the problem of graduate unemployment, the government must ask all the employers whether in the private sector or public sector to verify the credentials of the people they employ with the respective institutions those people claim to have studied from. If you get a Makerere University transcript from Nasser Road, you will be unearthed if your document is taken to Makerere for verification and you don’t appear in Makerere University database. If you have a forged A or O level certificate, government must check with UNEB and the schools named. As things unfold, Besigye’s tormentor may have forged documents to obtain a degree. Otherwise, what describes a discrepancy between the names he used in the lower levels of education and the ones he uses now?
Government must make sure higher education including university education is accessible on merit not on the basis of affluence. University fees in public universities are too much to bear by the ordinary person but also by most employees including civil servants. Accordingly, government must reduce tuition fees as the president promised during his campaigns but also increase funding to the universities for research and enhancement of the academic staff salaries.
The government promised to launch a students’ loan scheme which the president promised even before he started his campaigns. This loan scheme is long overdue and it should cater for all those that have dropped out of universities on account of failing to raise tuition fees. I am sure, since other countries have managed it, Uganda also must.
Government must increase the salaries of all employees and urge the private employers to increase the remuneration for their employs to match with the rising costs of living.
Government must intervene by cutting the fuel taxes but also taxes on all other commodity prices. I find the argument that when government reduces taxes, there will be no money for roads and electricity lame. The state is there for the good of its citizens. There are immediate needs that need to be prioritized and these are survival needs.
Government must bring to book all regime supporters that have flagrantly abused the law. We cannot accept a situation where criminality is condoned as long as it is done in support of the sitting regime. There must be a distinction between the state and the regime. Accordingly, Gilbert Arinaitwe Bwana who tortured, tormented and traumatized Dr Besigye should immediately be brought to book; Ofwono Opondo who shot a person in broad day light should also be prosecuted; Kale Kayihura a man under whose supervision Gilbert Arinaitwe Bwana works should also be brought to book.
The dialogue that government is proposing with the opposition is meaningless if the above issues are not handled. We demand to live in a country where our dignity as human beings is respected.
Finally, if shillings 1.8 trillion that has been unconstitutionally appropriated to buy fighter jets, (I don’t know what for) was to be distributed among 100,000 unemployed graduates, each one would get 18million shillings to be able to begin a job for himself/herself. It is nauseating and disgusting to find that our graduates have become paupers and criminals of all sorts just because they cannot get what to do when the government misallocates resources.
The recommendations I have given are by no means exhaustive but they will inevitably endear the government to the citizens if they worked upon. If they are disregarded, the government will further alienate itself from the citizens and calls by the opposition to withdraw the social contract will always attract public attention. It is futile for the ruling party to think that it will continuously buy votes, manipulate and deceive the masses to stay in power. Even if that is successfully done, some of us who know what the government should do will continue to protest. Incidentally, some people have chosen to go to prison in protest. At least, Honourable Mao told me when I visited him in Luzira that even by being in prison, he was protesting. Mr President, please, never ever think of criminalizing protests against the government. Thomas Jefferson said, “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”. Accordingly, people who express dissent with the manner in which government is run are not saboteurs; they are not traitors but the greatest patriots.
Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Monday, July 18, 2011
Detention without trial has become the norm in Uganda not an exception
Vincent Nuwagaba
On Tuesday July 12, 2011, I visited Jinja Road Police station. I introduced myself as a human rights defender to the authorities and begged to speak to the inmates. My request was granted without any hesitation and I must give the Police authorities a pat on the back for that. Indeed, this is the open door policy that we need and it will ultimately lead to full realization of human rights in Uganda.
What I found out, however, is appalling. There are some minors who have been kept in cells for long periods and there happen to be capital offenders who to date don’t know their fate. There are many people who are arrested and kept in police cells for more than the mandatory 48 hours before they are produced in court. I documented some names of the inmates, the offences with which they are charged and the period they have been in police cells and I reproduce them hereunder:
1. Byamugisha Alex 20, a Munyankole from Ntungamo District alleges that he was arrested on 18th June 2011 and charged with the murder of Agaba Christopher. He says he knows nothing about whether or when he will be taken to court and insists he is in jail for no cause. He pleaded with me to help him and that God will reward me.
2. Beyendeza Asuman who claimed was born in 1999 and is thus 12 years old told me that they were picked from the Nakawa market and asked to demolish buildings in Nakawa-Nagulu in exchange for money. He claims that he found bullets in the building and kept them in his pockets without perceiving of any implications. Later, he alleges that he took the clothes to a dry cleaner who called the POLICE. He allegedly was later arrested on Friday July 08, 2011 and he is being told to produce a gun and combat uniform. He begs for forgiveness and claims he just picked bullets without any ill intention.
3. Drici James 25, Madi claims he has been in the police cells since Sunday 3rd july 2011. He is charged with obtaining money by false pretence but he says that actually it was borrowed money. He was taken to Nakawa court on Monday July 11, 2011 but taken back to Jinja Road Police Station. By the time I talked to him on Tuesday 12, July at 1pm he said his sister had stood surety for him at around 10am but he was still in the cells.
4. Jignesh Kamdar 32, Indian national charged with illegal immigration claims his visa expired two years ago. He says he’s married to a Ugandan woman Nadia Mohammed, an ethnic Musoga with 3 children. He says the Immigration Department is planning to deport him but is worried about his children because his wifeis a housewife and children will most likely fail to meet their basic requirements. He has no money to take his children with him in case he is deported.
5. Manish Kumar C Baghaliya 40, Indian by nationality. Was arrested on 4th July 2011. He claims he is charged with illegal immigration. The people through whom he can be helped include David who can be accessed via +256712792000, Soh who can be contacted via +2567714123450 or +256704123450 and his wife Natasha can be contacted via +256701510134
6. Aman Hussain 31, a Pakistan national also claims he was charged with illegal immigration and was arrested on 5th July 2011
7. Iftikhar Ahmed 18, claims he was a visitor and then arrested and charged with illegal immigration. He was reportedly arrested on 5th July 2011. His next of kin is Mr Muneer who can be contacted via +256772324360
8. Amir Ali 28, Pakistan national claims he was a visitor and his visa would expire on 17th July but was charged with illegal immigration. He claims he was arrested on 5th July and that his next of kin is Mr. Asgar who can be reached via 0757580144
9. Abid Hussain 24, Pakistan national claims he came as a visitor and his visa is still valid for two more months but was arrested, charged as an illegal immigrant. His date of arrest is reportedly 5th July 2011 and his next of kin is Mr. Muneer who can be reached via 0772324360.
10. Nyeko Solomon Jeff aged 19, an Acholi by tribe who happens to be a student at Kololo SSS claims was arrested on 4th July and charged with theft. He said he was arrested from Nakawa estate from where people were evicted. He said, “I was arrested on the mentioned date accused of stealing but it’s not true. They arrested me together with my two brothers and we have spent a week already at Jinja Road Police station. I am supposed to be at school because mock exams are to begin on 17th. His brothers’ names are: Opio Osriel aged 16, a student and Kinyera Stephen aged 17 a student also.
11. Bosa Dirisa 30, a Muganda by tribe, a builder by occupation is a defilement suspect and claims was arrested on 2nd July 2011.
12. Asia Alex 34, Lugbara, a hawker who sells bags. He claims he was accused by his mother that he disturbs her and was arrested on 2nd July 2011.
13. Adam Hassan 29, Ugandan, a businessman claims he has no charge proffered against him. He reportedly was arrested on 7th July and by the time of my visit he had been in cells for five days.
14. Hassan Hussein is a refugee and has no job. He claims he was arrested on 7th July and his offence was identification.
15. Bilal Massai, a Kenyan driver claims he has no charge against him and was arrested on July 1st 2011.
16. Madraru John Bosco, a Madi , a cleaner a theft suspect was arrested on 11th July.
17. Sgt Bazigu Samuel Z No 18973, a Ugandan Police Officer was arrested on 11th June 2011 accused of embezzlement. He writes, “It is alleged that in June 2010 when I left office at CPS Kampala some money was realised to have gone missing”. He adds, “Then this year on 11th June I was arrested by the Police from my home in Bugiri where I had settled after leaving the force. Since then I have been kept in police cells with no charges brought against me either in any court of law or tribunal”. He adds, “I have not been afforded a police bond in the alternative. I wonder why!!
The above cases are a pointer that police have taken it upon themselves to detain people beyond the legally mandated period of time and deliberately refuse to produce them in court. One wonders why they cannot be taken to court and be remanded in prison instead of keeping them in the horrible police cells. Our Constitution provides for non-derogable rights in Article 44. These rights include freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment; the right to a fair hearing; the writ of the order of habeas corpus and freedom from slavery and servitude. By detaining suspects without trial virtually all the non-derogable rights are violated. As a matter of fact, by keeping suspects in the cells without trying them, mental or psychological torture is inflicted on them. And by the way, some inmates are subjected to physical torture and those who prove that in case they are released they will either challenge their illegal detention in courts of law or file a formal complaint to the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), are taken to Butabika to destroy them – by declaring them persons of unsound mind so that they will forever never complain against the torture orchestrated by the police but also diminish their public reputation. They have done that several times to me but like the Bible says in 2Corinthians 6:8-9 “Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed”. The Bible in 2Corinthians 4:8-9 goes further to state that, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed”.
I appreciate the open door policy afforded to me by the OC Station but call upon the Police not to always keep suspects in their detention centres illegally.
What I documented from Jinja Road Police Station is a replica of what happens in every police station in Uganda and I wonder why this illegality should continue unchallenged.
Together we can make a difference!
Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
+256702843552
Email: vnuwagaba@gmail.com
On Tuesday July 12, 2011, I visited Jinja Road Police station. I introduced myself as a human rights defender to the authorities and begged to speak to the inmates. My request was granted without any hesitation and I must give the Police authorities a pat on the back for that. Indeed, this is the open door policy that we need and it will ultimately lead to full realization of human rights in Uganda.
What I found out, however, is appalling. There are some minors who have been kept in cells for long periods and there happen to be capital offenders who to date don’t know their fate. There are many people who are arrested and kept in police cells for more than the mandatory 48 hours before they are produced in court. I documented some names of the inmates, the offences with which they are charged and the period they have been in police cells and I reproduce them hereunder:
1. Byamugisha Alex 20, a Munyankole from Ntungamo District alleges that he was arrested on 18th June 2011 and charged with the murder of Agaba Christopher. He says he knows nothing about whether or when he will be taken to court and insists he is in jail for no cause. He pleaded with me to help him and that God will reward me.
2. Beyendeza Asuman who claimed was born in 1999 and is thus 12 years old told me that they were picked from the Nakawa market and asked to demolish buildings in Nakawa-Nagulu in exchange for money. He claims that he found bullets in the building and kept them in his pockets without perceiving of any implications. Later, he alleges that he took the clothes to a dry cleaner who called the POLICE. He allegedly was later arrested on Friday July 08, 2011 and he is being told to produce a gun and combat uniform. He begs for forgiveness and claims he just picked bullets without any ill intention.
3. Drici James 25, Madi claims he has been in the police cells since Sunday 3rd july 2011. He is charged with obtaining money by false pretence but he says that actually it was borrowed money. He was taken to Nakawa court on Monday July 11, 2011 but taken back to Jinja Road Police Station. By the time I talked to him on Tuesday 12, July at 1pm he said his sister had stood surety for him at around 10am but he was still in the cells.
4. Jignesh Kamdar 32, Indian national charged with illegal immigration claims his visa expired two years ago. He says he’s married to a Ugandan woman Nadia Mohammed, an ethnic Musoga with 3 children. He says the Immigration Department is planning to deport him but is worried about his children because his wifeis a housewife and children will most likely fail to meet their basic requirements. He has no money to take his children with him in case he is deported.
5. Manish Kumar C Baghaliya 40, Indian by nationality. Was arrested on 4th July 2011. He claims he is charged with illegal immigration. The people through whom he can be helped include David who can be accessed via +256712792000, Soh who can be contacted via +2567714123450 or +256704123450 and his wife Natasha can be contacted via +256701510134
6. Aman Hussain 31, a Pakistan national also claims he was charged with illegal immigration and was arrested on 5th July 2011
7. Iftikhar Ahmed 18, claims he was a visitor and then arrested and charged with illegal immigration. He was reportedly arrested on 5th July 2011. His next of kin is Mr Muneer who can be contacted via +256772324360
8. Amir Ali 28, Pakistan national claims he was a visitor and his visa would expire on 17th July but was charged with illegal immigration. He claims he was arrested on 5th July and that his next of kin is Mr. Asgar who can be reached via 0757580144
9. Abid Hussain 24, Pakistan national claims he came as a visitor and his visa is still valid for two more months but was arrested, charged as an illegal immigrant. His date of arrest is reportedly 5th July 2011 and his next of kin is Mr. Muneer who can be reached via 0772324360.
10. Nyeko Solomon Jeff aged 19, an Acholi by tribe who happens to be a student at Kololo SSS claims was arrested on 4th July and charged with theft. He said he was arrested from Nakawa estate from where people were evicted. He said, “I was arrested on the mentioned date accused of stealing but it’s not true. They arrested me together with my two brothers and we have spent a week already at Jinja Road Police station. I am supposed to be at school because mock exams are to begin on 17th. His brothers’ names are: Opio Osriel aged 16, a student and Kinyera Stephen aged 17 a student also.
11. Bosa Dirisa 30, a Muganda by tribe, a builder by occupation is a defilement suspect and claims was arrested on 2nd July 2011.
12. Asia Alex 34, Lugbara, a hawker who sells bags. He claims he was accused by his mother that he disturbs her and was arrested on 2nd July 2011.
13. Adam Hassan 29, Ugandan, a businessman claims he has no charge proffered against him. He reportedly was arrested on 7th July and by the time of my visit he had been in cells for five days.
14. Hassan Hussein is a refugee and has no job. He claims he was arrested on 7th July and his offence was identification.
15. Bilal Massai, a Kenyan driver claims he has no charge against him and was arrested on July 1st 2011.
16. Madraru John Bosco, a Madi , a cleaner a theft suspect was arrested on 11th July.
17. Sgt Bazigu Samuel Z No 18973, a Ugandan Police Officer was arrested on 11th June 2011 accused of embezzlement. He writes, “It is alleged that in June 2010 when I left office at CPS Kampala some money was realised to have gone missing”. He adds, “Then this year on 11th June I was arrested by the Police from my home in Bugiri where I had settled after leaving the force. Since then I have been kept in police cells with no charges brought against me either in any court of law or tribunal”. He adds, “I have not been afforded a police bond in the alternative. I wonder why!!
The above cases are a pointer that police have taken it upon themselves to detain people beyond the legally mandated period of time and deliberately refuse to produce them in court. One wonders why they cannot be taken to court and be remanded in prison instead of keeping them in the horrible police cells. Our Constitution provides for non-derogable rights in Article 44. These rights include freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment; the right to a fair hearing; the writ of the order of habeas corpus and freedom from slavery and servitude. By detaining suspects without trial virtually all the non-derogable rights are violated. As a matter of fact, by keeping suspects in the cells without trying them, mental or psychological torture is inflicted on them. And by the way, some inmates are subjected to physical torture and those who prove that in case they are released they will either challenge their illegal detention in courts of law or file a formal complaint to the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC), are taken to Butabika to destroy them – by declaring them persons of unsound mind so that they will forever never complain against the torture orchestrated by the police but also diminish their public reputation. They have done that several times to me but like the Bible says in 2Corinthians 6:8-9 “Through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed”. The Bible in 2Corinthians 4:8-9 goes further to state that, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed”.
I appreciate the open door policy afforded to me by the OC Station but call upon the Police not to always keep suspects in their detention centres illegally.
What I documented from Jinja Road Police Station is a replica of what happens in every police station in Uganda and I wonder why this illegality should continue unchallenged.
Together we can make a difference!
Vincent Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
+256702843552
Email: vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The 9th Parliament must criminalise torture
By Vincent Nuwagaba (email the author)
First Published by Daily Monitor, Tuesday, June 21 2011
The whole of this week, various activities will be held in preparation for the UN Day in Support of Torture Victims. The Coalition against Torture, a network of human rights NGOs and individuals under the stewardship of African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV), is working round the clock to have a law against torture passed by the 9th Parliament.
The Coalition against Torture was started in 2004/2005 by Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) before the mantle was passed over to ACTV. A number of human rights activists from various human rights organisations and the government human rights watchdog - the Uganda Human Rights Commission were trained as torture monitors. This means there has been a vigorous campaign against torture in Uganda by the human rights fraternity for close to a decade now.
By the time the 8th Parliament closed, there was a Bill – The Prohibition and Prevention of Torture Bill, 2009. While we were worried that since the 8th Parliament came to a close before the Bill was passed into law, we were likely to go back to square one, the Speaker of the 9th Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga gave us a ray of hope when she was hosted on NTV recently. Hon Kadaga said the Bills which were not concluded by the 8th Parliament such as the Marriage and Divorce Bill, among others, could proceed from where they stopped.
Related Stories
* This Parliament will need a lot of prayers
* Has 9th Parliament put money first and nation last?
* Fellow legislators should reject costly vehicles
* Kadaga can make or break Ninth Parliament
* Kadaga should drive critical gender issues
* It doesn’t make sense to use oil money for power dams
The United Nations Convention against Torture was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1984, and was ratified by Uganda on June 26, 1987. Good enough, it was ratified by the National Resistance Movement. The Convention spells out clearly that no circumstances whatsoever warrant the use of torture, be it a state of emergency or war or political instability.
And I guess this is among other reasons why the framers of our Constitution made freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment an absolute right. Therefore, as we move to commemorate the UN Day in support of Torture Victims on June 26, the Ugandan Parliament is enjoined to pass a law on torture. While last year’s theme was No more impunity: Pass the Anti-torture Bill; this year’s theme is “Act Now, Criminalise Torture”.
First, since the Ugandan government ratified the UN Convention against Torture, it is enjoined to take it in good faith. It is a principle in international law that treaties, once ratified, are binding upon the parties to them and must be performed in good faith. Second, nobody is immune from torture –not even MPs or the President.
In fact, a law on torture is good for the opposition politicians, including MPs as it is good for the ruling party politicians. We wouldn’t like a situation where those currently in government are tortured when they are in the opposition tomorrow. Third, we must not mock our Constitution which provides that freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment is a non-derogable right. Thus, it is in the country’s best interest that MPs pass a law criminalising torture.
The Bill that was presented in the 8th Parliament was meticulously crafted to include various forms of torture. I must state that a threat against one person is indirectly a threat against all. Let’s remember Martin Luther King’s words, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
First Published by Daily Monitor, Tuesday, June 21 2011
The whole of this week, various activities will be held in preparation for the UN Day in Support of Torture Victims. The Coalition against Torture, a network of human rights NGOs and individuals under the stewardship of African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV), is working round the clock to have a law against torture passed by the 9th Parliament.
The Coalition against Torture was started in 2004/2005 by Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) before the mantle was passed over to ACTV. A number of human rights activists from various human rights organisations and the government human rights watchdog - the Uganda Human Rights Commission were trained as torture monitors. This means there has been a vigorous campaign against torture in Uganda by the human rights fraternity for close to a decade now.
By the time the 8th Parliament closed, there was a Bill – The Prohibition and Prevention of Torture Bill, 2009. While we were worried that since the 8th Parliament came to a close before the Bill was passed into law, we were likely to go back to square one, the Speaker of the 9th Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga gave us a ray of hope when she was hosted on NTV recently. Hon Kadaga said the Bills which were not concluded by the 8th Parliament such as the Marriage and Divorce Bill, among others, could proceed from where they stopped.
Related Stories
* This Parliament will need a lot of prayers
* Has 9th Parliament put money first and nation last?
* Fellow legislators should reject costly vehicles
* Kadaga can make or break Ninth Parliament
* Kadaga should drive critical gender issues
* It doesn’t make sense to use oil money for power dams
The United Nations Convention against Torture was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1984, and was ratified by Uganda on June 26, 1987. Good enough, it was ratified by the National Resistance Movement. The Convention spells out clearly that no circumstances whatsoever warrant the use of torture, be it a state of emergency or war or political instability.
And I guess this is among other reasons why the framers of our Constitution made freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment an absolute right. Therefore, as we move to commemorate the UN Day in support of Torture Victims on June 26, the Ugandan Parliament is enjoined to pass a law on torture. While last year’s theme was No more impunity: Pass the Anti-torture Bill; this year’s theme is “Act Now, Criminalise Torture”.
First, since the Ugandan government ratified the UN Convention against Torture, it is enjoined to take it in good faith. It is a principle in international law that treaties, once ratified, are binding upon the parties to them and must be performed in good faith. Second, nobody is immune from torture –not even MPs or the President.
In fact, a law on torture is good for the opposition politicians, including MPs as it is good for the ruling party politicians. We wouldn’t like a situation where those currently in government are tortured when they are in the opposition tomorrow. Third, we must not mock our Constitution which provides that freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment is a non-derogable right. Thus, it is in the country’s best interest that MPs pass a law criminalising torture.
The Bill that was presented in the 8th Parliament was meticulously crafted to include various forms of torture. I must state that a threat against one person is indirectly a threat against all. Let’s remember Martin Luther King’s words, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
vnuwagaba@gmail.com
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
We shouldn’t tolerate impunity for human rights violators
First published by The Razor Newspaper Monday, April 25th, 2011 | Posted by The
I am enraged by the on-going developments in Uganda where the opposition politicians are being subjected to untold humiliation and suffering just because of the walk-to-work campaigns. The government has ordered media houses not to broad-cast live the police brutality arguing that this incites the people into violence. This is utter shamelessness. The media is part of civil society and what civil society should do is to act as a mirror which shows you exactly who you are. If the government has blemishes, the broader civil society should show those blemishes as they are.
Sadly, rather than addressing the root causes of the walk-to-walk campaign, the government is hell-bent on demonizing the opposition politicians who have launched this campaign to show solidarity with the ordinary citizens that face the brunt of rising commodity prices. While addressing journalists on Tuesday 12th April 2011, the DP President Norbert Mao said what the government needs to do is to cut the tax on fuel by only 400 shillings on each litre, the commodity prices would go down.
Only last week, the Kenyan civil society groups threatened to go on the streets protesting the rise in fuel prices. The Kenyan government responded by slashing 30 per cent off the tax on fuel. What’s so unique with Uganda? While addressing journalists at his country home, president Museveni said they could not reduce the taxes on fuel because then they would fail to raise money to run the state. Ironically, this money doesn’t benefit the Ugandan taxpayers. Do we need huge sums of money to spend on the swearing-in ceremony; buying fighter jets at a time when the country is at peace? Why would the state need taxes if they cannot ameliorate the current plight in which citizens are embroiled? What are taxes for if they don’t help the citizens?
I know government is paranoid that the opposition intends to exploit the situation to capture power. But why can’t the government address the issues raised? I personally received a text message reading, “This is the old man with a hat. Thank you for voting me and the NRM. Let’s work together for a better Uganda. Congratulations on the NRM victory”. I also received numerous calls with a recorded voice of the president with the above message. So, what exactly did the president mean when he said let us work together for a better Uganda if he cannot listen to the cries of Ugandans? If the opposition never had any point in what they are doing they wouldn’t attract a following. The president said that increase in food prices puts a smile on the faces of his farmers. Don’t the farmers buy other commodities?
I know walking has never been a crime. The state is currently violating what in the human rights parlance we call negative rights. These rights are inherent and all the state should do is to refrain from infringing them. Unfortunately, the police force which is headed by a professional lawyer is at the forefront of violating Ugandans rights. It is amazing that the military has also joined the police in the crack-down on peaceful people’s rights. For how long will impunity be brooked? I have seen some people in the business community saying they are going to organize counter demonstrations against the Activists 4 Change walk-to-work campaign. Why can’t they call upon the government to address the grievances raised by the walk-to-work campaigns?
The Inspector General of Police and the government should come out clearly and tell us whether the rights enshrined in Article 29 of the constitution can only be enjoyed by other citizens and not political leaders. I would want to know whether we are in a state of emergency as to warrant the suspension and limitation of human rights. If the government cannot tolerate peaceful means of dissent, how does the ruling party expect the opposition to express their grievances? I saw the president saying Besigye was allowed to hold numerous rallies during the campaigns without any interference. Does that mean the opposition should never participate in any activities after elections? Have we appreciated the fact that we are in a multiparty dispensation?
There is no pretence now that in Uganda we cannot talk of human rights – not civil and political rights or economic, social and cultural rights. The ruling party has arrogated itself the powers to give and take rights. I am worried that in future they may even block opposition figures from going to churches and mosques because they will mingle with the people. Finally, people who are arrested in the walk-to-work campaigns are charged with assault; inciting violence; blocking traffic and other funny charges. Why can’t they charge them with illegal walking if it is a crime?
VINCENT NUWAGABA
is a political scientist cum human rights defender
I am enraged by the on-going developments in Uganda where the opposition politicians are being subjected to untold humiliation and suffering just because of the walk-to-work campaigns. The government has ordered media houses not to broad-cast live the police brutality arguing that this incites the people into violence. This is utter shamelessness. The media is part of civil society and what civil society should do is to act as a mirror which shows you exactly who you are. If the government has blemishes, the broader civil society should show those blemishes as they are.
Sadly, rather than addressing the root causes of the walk-to-walk campaign, the government is hell-bent on demonizing the opposition politicians who have launched this campaign to show solidarity with the ordinary citizens that face the brunt of rising commodity prices. While addressing journalists on Tuesday 12th April 2011, the DP President Norbert Mao said what the government needs to do is to cut the tax on fuel by only 400 shillings on each litre, the commodity prices would go down.
Only last week, the Kenyan civil society groups threatened to go on the streets protesting the rise in fuel prices. The Kenyan government responded by slashing 30 per cent off the tax on fuel. What’s so unique with Uganda? While addressing journalists at his country home, president Museveni said they could not reduce the taxes on fuel because then they would fail to raise money to run the state. Ironically, this money doesn’t benefit the Ugandan taxpayers. Do we need huge sums of money to spend on the swearing-in ceremony; buying fighter jets at a time when the country is at peace? Why would the state need taxes if they cannot ameliorate the current plight in which citizens are embroiled? What are taxes for if they don’t help the citizens?
I know government is paranoid that the opposition intends to exploit the situation to capture power. But why can’t the government address the issues raised? I personally received a text message reading, “This is the old man with a hat. Thank you for voting me and the NRM. Let’s work together for a better Uganda. Congratulations on the NRM victory”. I also received numerous calls with a recorded voice of the president with the above message. So, what exactly did the president mean when he said let us work together for a better Uganda if he cannot listen to the cries of Ugandans? If the opposition never had any point in what they are doing they wouldn’t attract a following. The president said that increase in food prices puts a smile on the faces of his farmers. Don’t the farmers buy other commodities?
I know walking has never been a crime. The state is currently violating what in the human rights parlance we call negative rights. These rights are inherent and all the state should do is to refrain from infringing them. Unfortunately, the police force which is headed by a professional lawyer is at the forefront of violating Ugandans rights. It is amazing that the military has also joined the police in the crack-down on peaceful people’s rights. For how long will impunity be brooked? I have seen some people in the business community saying they are going to organize counter demonstrations against the Activists 4 Change walk-to-work campaign. Why can’t they call upon the government to address the grievances raised by the walk-to-work campaigns?
The Inspector General of Police and the government should come out clearly and tell us whether the rights enshrined in Article 29 of the constitution can only be enjoyed by other citizens and not political leaders. I would want to know whether we are in a state of emergency as to warrant the suspension and limitation of human rights. If the government cannot tolerate peaceful means of dissent, how does the ruling party expect the opposition to express their grievances? I saw the president saying Besigye was allowed to hold numerous rallies during the campaigns without any interference. Does that mean the opposition should never participate in any activities after elections? Have we appreciated the fact that we are in a multiparty dispensation?
There is no pretence now that in Uganda we cannot talk of human rights – not civil and political rights or economic, social and cultural rights. The ruling party has arrogated itself the powers to give and take rights. I am worried that in future they may even block opposition figures from going to churches and mosques because they will mingle with the people. Finally, people who are arrested in the walk-to-work campaigns are charged with assault; inciting violence; blocking traffic and other funny charges. Why can’t they charge them with illegal walking if it is a crime?
VINCENT NUWAGABA
is a political scientist cum human rights defender
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Human Rights Must Not Be Limited To Civil Liberties
First Published by Daily Monitor on Thursday December 10, 2009
Today, Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate the Human Rights Day. As we mark this day, we need to take stock of where we have come from; where we are and where we intend to be. This call goes to both government and civil society groups. Indeed since its inception in 1996, the Uganda Human Rights Commission together with other human rights organisations have tried their level best to address human rights issues.
Nevertheless, human rights defenders in Uganda are yet to address the key issues that exacerbate human rights violations. They have largely concentrated on civil liberties and political rights and relegated economic, social and cultural rights; yet these are the cornerstone of the human rights movement for they address the fundamental freedom - freedom from want. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is the bedrock of virtually all the human rights instruments we have today, underscores both negative and positive rights. Also, human rights defenders know quite well that the World Conference in Vienna in 1993 affirmed that "all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated" and that the "international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis."
It is noteworthy that during the cold war era, the capitalist bloc favoured the civil and political rights while the socialist bloc favoured economic, social and cultural rights. Are our human rights organisations aligned to the capitalists? Since in the foregoing we have already underscored the indivisibility of human rights, it is only fair that the state is obliged to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural rights as it does with civil and political rights. In any case, I personally have a hunch that socio-economic rights are the enablers for the realisation of civil and political rights. For instance, people who never get jobs can only enjoy political rights in half measures since they can only vote but rarely be voted since they may even lack nomination fee.
But what is the catalogue of the socio-economic rights that I fervently promote? These rights include workers' rights; the right to social security and social protection in the event of unemployment, sickness, old age among others; the right to an adequate standards of living including the right to food and to be free from hunger, to adequate housing, to water and to clothing; the right to education; the right to health, among others.
Relevant Links
I am happy the President acknowledges health and education to be the most critical sectors. But to what extent has government prioritised these sectors? And how many human rights organisations genuinely promote the rights to health and education? Only last year Kyambogo University was closed for close to a semester, I never saw any press conference addressed by our civil society groups to address the rights of students and parents who were affected by the closure.
This semester, tuition fees in Makerere University were hiked up to 126 per cent (for the record LLB tuition was hiked from 0.6 to 1.26m); MPs following an increase in costs of living raised their emoluments and no single human rights organisation raised a finger. Like Martin Luther King Jr said, our lives begin to end a moment we keep silent over issues that matter. This is a clarion call I make to the government, the Uganda Human rights Commission and civil society activists.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
Today, Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate the Human Rights Day. As we mark this day, we need to take stock of where we have come from; where we are and where we intend to be. This call goes to both government and civil society groups. Indeed since its inception in 1996, the Uganda Human Rights Commission together with other human rights organisations have tried their level best to address human rights issues.
Nevertheless, human rights defenders in Uganda are yet to address the key issues that exacerbate human rights violations. They have largely concentrated on civil liberties and political rights and relegated economic, social and cultural rights; yet these are the cornerstone of the human rights movement for they address the fundamental freedom - freedom from want. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is the bedrock of virtually all the human rights instruments we have today, underscores both negative and positive rights. Also, human rights defenders know quite well that the World Conference in Vienna in 1993 affirmed that "all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated" and that the "international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis."
It is noteworthy that during the cold war era, the capitalist bloc favoured the civil and political rights while the socialist bloc favoured economic, social and cultural rights. Are our human rights organisations aligned to the capitalists? Since in the foregoing we have already underscored the indivisibility of human rights, it is only fair that the state is obliged to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural rights as it does with civil and political rights. In any case, I personally have a hunch that socio-economic rights are the enablers for the realisation of civil and political rights. For instance, people who never get jobs can only enjoy political rights in half measures since they can only vote but rarely be voted since they may even lack nomination fee.
But what is the catalogue of the socio-economic rights that I fervently promote? These rights include workers' rights; the right to social security and social protection in the event of unemployment, sickness, old age among others; the right to an adequate standards of living including the right to food and to be free from hunger, to adequate housing, to water and to clothing; the right to education; the right to health, among others.
Relevant Links
I am happy the President acknowledges health and education to be the most critical sectors. But to what extent has government prioritised these sectors? And how many human rights organisations genuinely promote the rights to health and education? Only last year Kyambogo University was closed for close to a semester, I never saw any press conference addressed by our civil society groups to address the rights of students and parents who were affected by the closure.
This semester, tuition fees in Makerere University were hiked up to 126 per cent (for the record LLB tuition was hiked from 0.6 to 1.26m); MPs following an increase in costs of living raised their emoluments and no single human rights organisation raised a finger. Like Martin Luther King Jr said, our lives begin to end a moment we keep silent over issues that matter. This is a clarion call I make to the government, the Uganda Human rights Commission and civil society activists.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
Human Rights Must Not Be Limited To Civil Liberties
Uganda: Human Rights Must Not Be Limited to Civil Liberties
First published by Daily Monitor on 10 December 2009
opinion
Today, Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate the Human Rights Day. As we mark this day, we need to take stock of where we have come from; where we are and where we intend to be. This call goes to both government and civil society groups. Indeed since its inception in 1996, the Uganda Human Rights Commission together with other human rights organisations have tried their level best to address human rights issues.
Nevertheless, human rights defenders in Uganda are yet to address the key issues that exacerbate human rights violations. They have largely concentrated on civil liberties and political rights and relegated economic, social and cultural rights; yet these are the cornerstone of the human rights movement for they address the fundamental freedom - freedom from want. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is the bedrock of virtually all the human rights instruments we have today, underscores both negative and positive rights. Also, human rights defenders know quite well that the World Conference in Vienna in 1993 affirmed that "all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated" and that the "international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis."
It is noteworthy that during the cold war era, the capitalist bloc favoured the civil and political rights while the socialist bloc favoured economic, social and cultural rights. Are our human rights organisations aligned to the capitalists? Since in the foregoing we have already underscored the indivisibility of human rights, it is only fair that the state is obliged to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural rights as it does with civil and political rights. In any case, I personally have a hunch that socio-economic rights are the enablers for the realisation of civil and political rights. For instance, people who never get jobs can only enjoy political rights in half measures since they can only vote but rarely be voted since they may even lack nomination fee.
But what is the catalogue of the socio-economic rights that I fervently promote? These rights include workers' rights; the right to social security and social protection in the event of unemployment, sickness, old age among others; the right to an adequate standards of living including the right to food and to be free from hunger, to adequate housing, to water and to clothing; the right to education; the right to health, among others.
I am happy the President acknowledges health and education to be the most critical sectors. But to what extent has government prioritised these sectors? And how many human rights organisations genuinely promote the rights to health and education? Only last year Kyambogo University was closed for close to a semester, I never saw any press conference addressed by our civil society groups to address the rights of students and parents who were affected by the closure.
This semester, tuition fees in Makerere University were hiked up to 126 per cent (for the record LLB tuition was hiked from 0.6 to 1.26m); MPs following an increase in costs of living raised their emoluments and no single human rights organisation raised a finger. Like Martin Luther King Jr said, our lives begin to end a moment we keep silent over issues that matter. This is a clarion call I make to the government, the Uganda Human rights Commission and civil society activists.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
First published by Daily Monitor on 10 December 2009
opinion
Today, Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate the Human Rights Day. As we mark this day, we need to take stock of where we have come from; where we are and where we intend to be. This call goes to both government and civil society groups. Indeed since its inception in 1996, the Uganda Human Rights Commission together with other human rights organisations have tried their level best to address human rights issues.
Nevertheless, human rights defenders in Uganda are yet to address the key issues that exacerbate human rights violations. They have largely concentrated on civil liberties and political rights and relegated economic, social and cultural rights; yet these are the cornerstone of the human rights movement for they address the fundamental freedom - freedom from want. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is the bedrock of virtually all the human rights instruments we have today, underscores both negative and positive rights. Also, human rights defenders know quite well that the World Conference in Vienna in 1993 affirmed that "all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated" and that the "international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing and with the same emphasis."
It is noteworthy that during the cold war era, the capitalist bloc favoured the civil and political rights while the socialist bloc favoured economic, social and cultural rights. Are our human rights organisations aligned to the capitalists? Since in the foregoing we have already underscored the indivisibility of human rights, it is only fair that the state is obliged to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural rights as it does with civil and political rights. In any case, I personally have a hunch that socio-economic rights are the enablers for the realisation of civil and political rights. For instance, people who never get jobs can only enjoy political rights in half measures since they can only vote but rarely be voted since they may even lack nomination fee.
But what is the catalogue of the socio-economic rights that I fervently promote? These rights include workers' rights; the right to social security and social protection in the event of unemployment, sickness, old age among others; the right to an adequate standards of living including the right to food and to be free from hunger, to adequate housing, to water and to clothing; the right to education; the right to health, among others.
I am happy the President acknowledges health and education to be the most critical sectors. But to what extent has government prioritised these sectors? And how many human rights organisations genuinely promote the rights to health and education? Only last year Kyambogo University was closed for close to a semester, I never saw any press conference addressed by our civil society groups to address the rights of students and parents who were affected by the closure.
This semester, tuition fees in Makerere University were hiked up to 126 per cent (for the record LLB tuition was hiked from 0.6 to 1.26m); MPs following an increase in costs of living raised their emoluments and no single human rights organisation raised a finger. Like Martin Luther King Jr said, our lives begin to end a moment we keep silent over issues that matter. This is a clarion call I make to the government, the Uganda Human rights Commission and civil society activists.
Mr Nuwagaba is a human rights defender
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)