And some people tell us these things where never discussed? That there was no democracy then? What then is this?
Ssemakula, thank you for exposing the lies of such people!
Rgds
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--- Begin Message ---From Ugandanet Archives:Excerpts of Kasfir’s article The 1967 Uganda Constituent Assembly Debate in Transition 33
- Increasing Presidential Powers:
Turning to civil liberties, our rights could be suspended summarily under the proposals and there was no recourse to the courts to find out why they had been suspended. This was the biggest indication of autocracy. The members were giving the president powers to appoint everybody, dismiss everybody, nominate one-third of the Parliament and detain them in the bargain … Mr. Nekyon said the proposals provided for an autocracy or an African democracy. Which prevailed would depend on the person in the office of the President. The concentration of power in one person was not completely justified. Some of the powers given to the president were excessive. There should be a balance between the office of the President and the judiciary, and the system of Parliament.
A.A. Nekyon (UPC Lango S.E), Uganda Argus 30th, June 1967.
- ‘I love the president. He knows me thoroughly and I know him intimately.’ He was not a machine, even machines have limitations. Mr. Obwangor said that in his opinion it would be unfair to impose all the powers of the State on him. The essential factor in a modern state was balance of power. It would be ridiculous if the Constituent Assembly vested all the powers in one man. He strongly felt that the office of Prime Minister should be created. He should be the head of government to assist the President. The creation of such an office would relieve the president and would leave him with the work pertaining to such an important office. Mr. Obwangor suggested that the principle of collective responsibility between the Cabinet Ministers and the President should b e held to.
Cuthbert Obwangor (Min. of Plan. & Econ. Dev.) Uganda Argus 11th, July
- NOMINATED MPs:
It was not democracy for the president to nominate 30 members of the House. It would be better for him to nominate all MPs so that the country would clearly know that it was a dictatorship. If a man was nominated he was bound to be a ‘yes man’. This was a step back to the dark days.
H.M. Luande (Independent, Kampala E) Uganda Argus 29th June
Mr. Obwangor disapproved of the section which provided for nominated members whom he described as political failures. If someone fails at the vote, let him not poke his nose in this noble House, Mr. Obwangor said amid cheers from both sides of the House.
C. Obwangor (Min. Plan. & Econ. Dev.) Uganda Argus 8th July
- PREVENTIVE DETENTION:
When the detention act came into being, it was not pick and choose, one did not know who would come first. It is like death.
E.M.K. Mulira (UPC, Mengo N.) Uganda Argus 30th June
Preventive detention was a double-edged sword. It prevented a crime that was feared if it was used properly, but it could also create the commission of that offense if it was wrongly used. If a man were detained because he was trying to subvert the country, it was proper that he should be brought to trial, but if he was going to be kept indefinitely, then Mr. Nekyon thought that what Uganda was trying to prevent would instead be caused by other people who thought they might be detained as well. Preventive detention, unless used correctly, would spread discontent. To detain one man meant to detain six, because his friends and family would become discontented. To go on detaining more and more people would mean a spread to the point where preventive detention could no longer be effective because one had detained three million out of seven and half already. At this point the Constitution would be changed by force. This was nature’s pr ovision human rights – human nature. He believed the President and Police were being given power to eliminate serious political opponents systematically, and he did not think this was the answer, even when power is wanted.
A.A. Nekyon (UPC, Lango SE) Uganda Argus 30th June
Turning to the section which deals with the protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Individual, Mr. Mayanja said that as a veteran nationalist one of the most serious indictments against the colonialists was the deprivation of some of the fundamental rights and freedom of the individual. But still there were some rights which the colonialists guaranteed , and added that it was disappointing that even those right and freedoms which were enjoyed during the colonial times were going to be taken away by the present proposals. He described the move as a shame.
A. Mayanja (UPC, Kyaggwe NE) Uganda Argus 6th July
What a shame that Members of Parliament should be asked by our President to give him powers to detain us and after he had done so give him powers not to be taken to a court of law.
J.W. Kiwanuka (UPC Mubende N) Uganda Argus 14th July
He had also suggested in 1963 that if people attempted to cause trouble in the country a detention act should be passed to deal with them. (He said) Today I am very happy the Government has seen fit to bring about my dream. I am happy that it is now going to be not only my idea but the idea of the entire nation. Mr. Lakidi hoped all Members would support it. It had not been introduced lightly by the Government, but only after a lot of thought. The Government had been thinking about it since 1963. If we had in the 1962 Constitution a section about a detention act in it I am sure Sir Edward Mutesa would still be here today. I embrace this article (on detention) as mine, because I was the first person to come out with it.
E.Y. Lakidi (Min. of State, Public Serv. & Cab. Affairs) Uganda Argus 15th July
Detention is bad. It is very bad. There was nobody in Government who did not think it was bad. But there was a significant responsibility to construct a platform or foundation for the millions of people in Uganda.
Dr. A. Milton Obote (The President) Uganda Argus 7th September
- ABOLITION OF KINGSHIP AND FEDERALISM:
This is the end of the road of the Federation, and the beginning of a unitary system of government.
Dr. A. Milton Obote (The President) Uganda Argus 23rd June
. . .
E.M.K. Mulira (UPC, Mengo N) Uganda Argus 28th & 30th June
There were those who thought that in order to achieve truly national unity there should be one only loyalty to the State or the Republic of Uganda. There were others who conceived of loyalty in a series of spreading circles. Mr. Mayanja believed in achieving true national unity, loyalty should not be exclusive of all other loyalties. He pointed out that what the Government was trying to do was to unite different entities which existed before Uganda was invented. Therefore those who pretended that all Ugandans were the same and that the tribes did not exist were unrealistic. Therefore, the devised Constitution should take into account all the peculiar circumstances of the country’s situation. He prayed that the Members in making the Constitution, should not do so at the expense of losing peculiar geniuses. I deny we have a mandate to abolish kings for the reasons we pledged ourselves to safeguard kings and hereditary rulers. That is how we got elected.
Abu Mayanja (UPC, Kyaggwe NE) Uganda Argus 6th & 7th July
The proposal to rid the country of kingship and previleged classes seemed interesting and tempting. But did they propose to do it without introducing a “super kingship” by creating a privileged class? If Members of parliament had their homes guarded and were always accompanied by the army when on tour, was that not a privilege?
M.A. Okelo (DP, W. Nile & Madi) Uganda Argus 1st July
He would like to support the Constitution because there were many things he agreed with. [He said:] I cannot however sign a death warrant for kingship, because it would be tantamount to writing one’s own obituary.
E. Mulira (UPC, Mengo N) Uganda Argus 1st July
In a small country like Uganda, with many tribes and dialects that had been retained through generations to preserve identities, a combination of Presidential and Cabinet Government from the centre overseeing strong local governments in four provinces would be more acceptable to the various components, temperaments and customs, Dr. Sembeguya suggested. A large measure of autonomy should be accorded to four provincial councils. The center would be responsible for foreign affairs, defence, finance and policy. Ministers would be concerned with supervising overall policies.
Dr. F.G. Sembeguya (UPC, Specially Elected) Daily Nation 4th July
It was unfair to ask a person who comes from the part of the country where there were no kings whether kingships should be retained.
B. Byanyima (DP, Ankole NE) Uganda Argus 12th July
He disagreed with those who suggested that Members who come form areas where there are no kings should not discuss kingships. All Members were entitled to discuss any national issues and to vote over them.
Abbas Balinda (UPC, Ankole SE) Uganda Argus 14th July
To have a king as President had not proved satisfactory in the past. With kingships there were double loyalties. This is what we don’t want. We don’t want two masters when we have only one destiny.
E.Y. Lakidi (Min. State, Public Serv. & Cabinet Affairs) Uganda Argus 15th July
- OFFICIAL LANGUAGE:
According to the proposals, the country’s official language would be English. He hoped Members would not spend unnecessary time over that matter by asking when (sic) there should be a switch to Swahili. To those, I would say why not change to Gujarati because Swahili is no nearer to us than Gujarati.
Dr. Luyimbazi-Zake (Acting Attorney-General) Uganda Argus 24th June
…
- DEMOCRACY AND LIBERTY:
He did not mind people saying it was a good thing to have Parliamentary democracy, or even a great thing. But he stressed that there was no point in pretending that Uganda was at a stage where full Parliamentary democracy could obtain, because there were certain matters that came with it lacking in Uganda. These things had become effective in certain states in the world after many years of trial and error, and many upheavals. But they did not just come like that. Uganda must be prepared to go through years of trial and error to get them. Many countries of the world were in various transitional stages. It could not be achieved by wishful thinking.
Dr. A. Milton Obote (The President) Uganda Argus 23rd June
…
Mr. Oda said that he was not in the House as a representative of the people. He had been elected by the president on April 15 last year, as had been every other Member of the House. Since May 6 this year the mandate of the every elected Member of the Hose had expired.
G.O.B. Oda (DP, W. Nile & Madi W.) Uganda Argus 28th June
Mr. Obonyo said certain individuals could be called bad, but this did not mean that the institution of kingship as such was bad. When DP wanted to revise anything regarding institutions, they would go back and ask the people who were wiser than they were and ask their views.
J.H. Obonyo (DP Acholi SE) Uganda Argus 20th July
It was not the masses who caused chaos. It was not the masses who brought shame on Africa. It was those who sought in the Parliament of Africa (sic) and those who saw the inside of Universities and those who had seen light of the light of modern society. These were the people who had given Africa her present shape. It was such people as these who would not hesitate to see that an African state was plunged into difficulties in the hope that these difficulties would provide them with personal advantages.
Dr. A. Milton Obote (The President) Uganda Argus 7th September
- ATMOSPHERE OF THE DEBATE:
…
We on this side of the House are few, but in spite of that we shall do our best to speak without fear … They had said that the Buganda Emergency should be lifted. The had said that the representatives of the people should be free to talk to the masses of the people they represented. But all this had not been given to them. People were in fear. The people could not express their views freely. A Member of Parliament had been quoted as saying he feared giving an opinion about the new proposals. If he could say that, how many people outside could say it? This House is fearing to tell the truth. If a Member of Parliament is frightened to comment, how many people in the country are afraid to express their views?
A.A. Latim (Opposition Leader) Uganda Argus 24th June
The mere fact that the Government had brought the Constitutional proposals in this way indicated that the Government also believed that some the proposals could be rejected and the House should have the freedom to say what it wanted about each and every one.
Party considerations were not the reason why the proposals were difficult to debate …
Another reason why the proposals were difficult to debate was that it appeared that certain Members of the House were now under the impression that they were in real danger of being attacked by security forces at any time because of their views. The sense of fear should be removed if the Constitution was going to be a good guide for the country for the future.
A.A. Nekyon (UPC, Lango SE) Uganda Argus 30th June
He read in full, a letter to the members of the Government side signed by the Chief Whip. This stated that members absenting themselves from the House without permission would be causing subversion, and no member should oppose or vote against the proposals. The letter stated that as far as he (the Chief Whip) was concerned, opposition had been dealt with at a Parliamentary group meeting, and members who opposed the proposals would be liable to be dealt with severely. We can now see what sort of Parliament we have got.
M.A. Okelo (DP West Nile & Madi) Uganda Argus 1st July
Dr. Sembeguya criticised Government MPs whose “insulting and threatening” interjections during the past week’s debates in the Constituent Assembly suggested that, already having prior knowledge of the proposals, they were intent on seeing that they were bulldozed through the Assembly.
Dr. F.G. Sembeguya (UPC, Specially Elected) Daily Nation 4th July
As a Constituent Assembly, they represented not political parties but the nation as a whole. When the Constitution is enacted, it would be enacted by the whole National Assembly collectively.
Cuthbert Obwangor (Min. Plan. & Econ. Dev.) Uganda Argus 8th July
I do not consider that the view that has been expressed in the Constituent Assembly that Members should consider the Constitutional Proposals as individuals representing constituencies is valid or correct. The …
Dr. A Milton Obote (The President) Uganda Argus 12th July
Letter to Obwangor after his dismissal from Cabinet.
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