By Dani W. Nabudere
May 16, 2004 - Monitor
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The letter by President Museveni in reply to the posthumous legal and political opinion of the late James Wapakhabulo (RIP), which he gave in �good faith� because he was �motivated by the desire to see a harmonious political development in the country and nothing more,� is both amazing and revealing.
Indeed, this letter goes a step further, if indeed one was ever required, to prove that President Yoweri Museveni is determined to get the life presidency come what may and to do this, he will invoke January 26, 1986 as that ultimate authority for his action of ignoring the constitution. Although he himself, in his position of president was part of the NRC and the CA that promulgated the constitution on behalf of the people, he now wants to step aside, against all the branches of government, including the judiciary to become the sole interpreter of that constitution, and even so, wrongly! This is tantamount to a breach of article 3, which prohibits all of us from breaching the constitution and try to take control of the government of Uganda, otherwise by the processes provided for under that constitution. In my opinion, Wapakhabulo gave the best-considered legal and political opinion that the president should have taken time to ponder upon. Wapakhabulo was the most qualified person to reflect on the 1995 constitution because he chaired the proceedings for its debate, enactment and adoption. He was involved in all the rulings on all questions that led to its adoption and he did this in the name of the �Movement.� Now his legacy is being tarnished by a president who never seems to respect any one except himself. What a pity because this country deserves better leadership than that, having gone through all the turmoil that has become the hallmark of Uganda�s infamous history since its political independence. This is because the president even has not much opinion of his own minister� of Constitutional Affairs who has acknowledged that the referendum would not change the constitution but would only �gauge public opinion� whatever that means! In any case this amounts to the same thing as �propaganda value� that Wapakhabulo talked about, which nevertheless is right. That is why it would be so wrong to refer to the presidents� letter as trivial, as I have done, because there is more to it than meets the eye. For one thing, it confirms Mr Eriya Kategeya�s argument that the president personally pushed for the amendment of article 105(2) and has been using other people to argue the point for him while he sits in the background to pull the strings and provide the liquidity to propagate the case for what has come to be wrongly called �Third Term.� He has done this while those who have opposed the proposal have been harassed by the police and paid hooligans. There is no evidence of any popular outcry from the people demanding that the constitution be changed to accommodate the �Third Term� claim. It has been an orchestration throughout by some individuals inside and outside the cabinet. The president in his letter comes nearer to acknowledging this when for the first time we are �some people� wanted the change and not the whole �people.� It is too late for the president to try to confuse the country with his political opinions, which he wrongly equates with those on the January 26, 1986 of �the people� or better put �some people!� The people of Uganda decided to put �the bush constitutions� that governed the NRM and NRC behind them and embarked on a process of making a lasting constitution for their country. A constitution is the Supreme Law of this country and cannot rely on a single person�s political opinion and convictions. If we are to accept the president�s argument that because he went to the bush and therefore his understanding of the constitution is the only one which matters, this would be tantamount to being subjected to the dictatorship of one man, which the constitution rejects. It is for this reason that article 263 abolished the NRM government that was constituted under the rules adopted in the bush and the NRC. It provided that henceforth the country would be run as provided for under the constitution. The constitution recognised that power belongs to the people, but also provided that that power shall be exercised �in accordance with this constitution�. In other words, the people themselves decided to limit the manner in which they would exercise their power to the laws made under that constitution and not arbitrarily by some people claiming to represent them. Such exercise of power by �the people� without any laws would turn Uganda into anarchy and not a democracy. So please Mr President, spare us the agony of having to go into further turmoil. As I pointed out in my open letter to you of August 2000, the course you have chosen of trying to manipulate the constitution in order to impose your will only leads to coup d�etat by yourself against your own constitution and government. This is illegal and treasonable. Either we are ruled by the constitution or we shall fall into the Hobbesian �State of Nature� where life was �brutish, nasty and short.� Here Hobbes was describing the anarchy that people would live under if they did not organise themselves in a political society governed by laws. The following statement from your letter indicates that you are in fact determined to pursue this course: �When a constitutional or legal arrangement pays more attention to philosophically irrational procedures rather than the basic, genuine aspirations of the people, it loses legitimacy in the eyes of the people; it loses legitimacy and then it is ignored. When it is ignored by the masses, the legal gymnasticians are powerless to enforce their illegitimate arrangements. Have we not seen this with mob justice in our villages? Instead of having an easily understood procedure, if you construct an obscure procedure that excludes the aspirations of the people, you risk rendering that legal arrangement illegitimate.� Here the president is advising us to tremble before the �power of the mob� so that we may abandon constitutionality! God Forbid! Mr President. Either we stick with the constitution or we shall all, including yourself and your government, perish in the turmoil that will ensue under mob �law.� The path you are choosing will lead Uganda, like the DRC, into a conflict that will never end, as we have seen in the north of our own country. Spare us that agony, Mr. President. Obey the constitution made by the people through their delegates. NOTE: Prof. Nabudere is executive director of Afrika Study Centre, Mbale. |
� 2004 The Monitor Publications
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