Govt stops anti-third term report
By Daniel K. Kalinaki
Nov 18, 2003
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KAMPALA � Government has stopped The Monitor from publishing a draft report of the Constitutional Review Commission, which rejects the proposal to lift the two-term limit on the presidency. Mr Joseph Matsiko, an official from the Attorney General�s office, yesterday successfully sought an injunction against The Monitor publishing the full report containing the reasons the CRC commissioners gave in maintaining the two-term limit. Yesterday afternoon, the acting Principal Judge, Justice Patrick Tabaro of the High Court, issued the injunction �restraining [The Monitor] by themselves or through their agents/servants or employees from publishing the findings and/or purported contents of the Commission of Inquiry (Constitutional Review) report.� The Attorney General also filed a miscellaneous application, which will be heard on December 1. The Monitor had not received details of that application by press time last night. Meanwhile, the members of the Constitutional Review Commission, headed by Prof. Fredrick Ssempebwa, were locked in a crisis meeting for all of the working day yesterday. A source familiar with the goings on at the meeting said there was one item on the agenda � how details of the session, in which the idea of a third term was thrown out, were leaked to The Monitor. Following the meeting, the CRC members issued a press statement last night, in reaction to The Monitor lead story of yesterday. The statement, titled Attention, Correction By Chairman, reads in part: �The Commission of Inquiry (Constitutional Review) has noted the headline article in The Monitor newspaper of Monday November 17th 2003 titled �Ssempebwa Team Rejects Third Term�. �The Commission states that the contents of the article are not true. The Commission has not completed its work. The conclusion of the work will be marked by the handing over of the Report to the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.� The statement, signed on behalf of Ssempebwa, also dismissed claims of government influence in the work of the Commission. �We challenge The Monitor newspaper to provide evidence of government influence of the Commission or any other authority,� the statement adds. Earlier, Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Janat Mukwaya had declined to comment on the story of the leaked report when contacted by phone yesterday. Ssempebwa was also unreachable yesterday. He was reportedly held up in the crisis meeting. This is the second time this year that government is blocking The Monitor from publishing leaked government reports. In February, the late Minister of Information, Basoga Nsadhu, blocked the publishing of a report from a Movement committee that had dealt with the question of whether to open up the political space in the country. Additional reporting by Charles Mwanguhya Mpagi |
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