By Badru D. Mulumba
Feb 15, 2004
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KAMPALA – A British minister for African affairs has said Britain is looking forward to the publication of the Ssempebwa report. This development comes in the wake of Britain’s lawmakers tabling a motion that puts Uganda’s cabinet on the spot over its decision to lift the presidential term limits. “We are encouraging the government of Uganda to open up political space and look forward to publication of the Constitutional Review Commission’s recommendations for political change,” Mr Chris Mullin, secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Africa) told the UK House of Commons last week. Mullin was answering queries from lawmakers who also tabled a motion, ‘Political pluralism in Uganda’, which pointedly questions the cabinet decision to lift the two term limits. Says the motion: “this House notes that the Ugandan authorities have restricted political activities for the past 18 years; welcomes the decision by the Government and opposition groups to agree to commence talks on the country’s transition to political pluralism in 2006; [and] regrets that the Cabinet has recommended a constitutional amendment to lift the presidential two-term limit.” Adds the motion: “[This House] calls therefore on Her Majesty’s Government, as a major donor to Uganda, to encourage the Ugandan authorities to respect the constitution and to co-operate with the opposition and arrive at a consensus if Uganda is to have a peaceful transition to multi-party democracy after the 2006 presidential election.” Mr Mike Hancock tabled the motion last Tuesday. Five other lawmakers: Mr Paul Flynn, Mr Andrew George, Mr Bob Russell, Mr Bob Spink, and Mr Martin Caton signed the motion. It is an Early Day Motion (EDM). EDM’s are notices of motions that are generally not expected to be debated. Rather, they are intended to draw attention to an issue, and to elicit support for it by means of inviting other members to add their signatures to the motion. Backing their motion, the lawmakers cite the United Nations Development Report 2002 stand that “politics is a matter for human development’. “Reducing poverty depends as much on whether poor people have political power as on their opportunities for economic progress,” says the motion. “Democracy has proven to be the system of governance most capable of mediating and preventing conflict and of securing and sustaining well-being,” it says. Not sitting on our laurels Answering questions raised by Mr Hankock about the 18-year northern rebellion and human rights in the country, Mullin said: “We regularly urge President [Yoweri] Museveni to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). We deeply deplore the use of child soldiers by the LRA. We are also concerned at UN reports that the Ugandan army has been recruiting underage soldiers. We have recently raised this issue with senior army commanders. We are aware of reports of incidences of arbitrary arrest and the lack of due legal process, especially in northern Uganda. We take seriously reports of human rights abuses, including harassment of the opposition and raise our concerns with the Ugandan authorities.” Welcoming Uganda’s withdrawal of troops from the DRC on June 2 in compliance with a United Nations Security Council Resolution 1468, Mullion added that the UK urges all neighbouring states to support the Transitional National Government and not to interfere in the DRC peace process. The European Union, Mullin said, regularly raises alleged Government use of detention centres. “We and EU partners regularly press the Ugandan Government to ensure due process of law and that state security agencies are subject to proper scrutiny,” he added. The latest meeting between President Yoweri Museveni and the donors was early this month. He met EU ambassadors; a week after he publicly tore donor advice to shreds, in what the donors said was a meeting to discuss an array of issues on Uganda. |
© 2004 The Monitor Publications
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