Mr. Kibuka,
Akena Adoko's article is on the web at: www.kituochakatiba.co.ug/archives.htm.
This is the article that was quashed by Mr. Davies Sebukima (a.k.a. Steve Lino) -- an act rewarded by detention and accusations of sedition. The Steve Lino letter can be found at
www.mail-archive.com/ugandanet@kym.net/msg00297.html.
Mr. Abu Mayanja also reacted to the excesses of the 1967Constitution. Mr. Mayanja, too, was rewarded with detention and similar charges. The Chief Magistrate, Mr. Siaed, threw the charges, which were also pressed against Mr. Rajat Neogy as the editor of the Transition magazine, out of court. The judgment was published in Transition.
Less well known is the fact that the 1967 “pigeon-hole” constitution was Nkurumah's brainchild. Mr. Nkurumah "lent" Obote a “Senior Parliamentary Legal Draftsman”, one C.V. Crabbe, who crafted that document. In those days Uganda was in essence a colony of Ghana. The details are in “KWAME NKRUMAH’S PRESENCE IN A. M. OBOTE’S UGANDA: A Study in the Convergence of International and Comparative Politics” by Opuku Agyeman, Transition 48 (1975). I’ll put this bwino on Fedsnet in a separate post.
What befuddles me is why these articles are not at the web site of Kituo cha Katiba, which is part of the Makerere University’s Faculty of Law, and advertises itself as “East African Centre for Constitutional Development”. I’d hate to think that an institution of higher learning is in the habit of presenting one-sided arguments to its students, and the world, laying itself open to charges of attempting to airbrush history.
"M. Kibuka" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Sseruganda Kasangwawo,
Thanks a million times; this to me exerts what I said somewhere else that
there is a thin line that separates this constitution and that of 1995. I
hope that a learned friend will endeavour to illustrate this thin line.
Nonetheless, Akena Adoko responded to the Haji thus, in transition 33:
"The Uganda Revolution which took place early last year made it clear that
if Uganda was to remain a democracy then it was absolutely necessary to
reorganize that democracy in such a way that the characteristic benefits
which generally emanate from democratic governments were not interfered
with, and in such a way that certain evils such as hereditary monarchy,
excessive crime, separatist tendencies, and weakness of the Central
Government were eradicated, or, as far as possible, neutralized."
And here come some more:
"The critics of the presidential powers tend to overlook two things. First,
that there is also danger in failing to concentrate sufficient powers to
carry out governmental functions in the hands of the executive. I would
personally hate to see, once more, the progress of the country hampered by
struggles for power as nearly happened last year. If advanced countries like
the U.S.A. and Britain have to take precautions against this kind of
situation why not countries like Uganda and other African states whose
governments, because of the backwardness of the countries, have more
extensive functions?
"Secondly the critics tend to overlook the fact that the powers vested in
the President are those which enable him to control the business of
government, and not necessarily to execute it himself. So overwhelming is
government business that no single person can do it himself or even consent
to try do so. This is why we have a ca binet and ministers in charge of
various ministries, the Public Service Commission, Uganda Electricity Board,
and Uganda Development Corporation etc., to help carry out certain
governmental functions. In spite of this fact, that the executive powers are
delegated and distributed, the vesting of such powers in the hands of one
man ensures that somebody, and not an anonymous mass, must be held
responsible by and directly accountable to the people of the country for the
way the government powers are used."
I'm currently looking for means to publish this stuff for the wider public,
so one see for him/her self how confused certain minds are.
Have a good day.
Cheers, M. Kibuka
==========================================
Federalism is the only way forward
http://www.federo.com
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of
jon ah kasangwawo
Sent: 14 May 2005 20:21
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: ugandanet@kym.net
Subject: RE: [FedsNet] Re: News: Critique of Obote's story
Mw. Kibuka,
what can I say ? The Hajji dissected the issue with such surgical precision
that its hard to add on any comments.
I can only stress that with these proposals, the seeds of dictatorship in
Ugandan politics were sown. Obote gave himself control over everything - the
executive, the legislature, the judicature, the administration, the armed
forces, the police, et cetera, et cetera. Here's again the list of some of
the powers he took upon himself:
- power to nominate up to one third of the National Assembly !
- power to dissolve Parliament at any time and without giving any reason
- power to promulgate ordinances
- power to detain people without trial
- power to declare states of emergency without approval of the National
Assembly, and during wh ich he could also make regulations overriding laws
made by Parliament
- power to appoint and dismiss all public officers
- power to interfere with the work of the police, including giving orders to
the Inspector General of Police
- power to command the armed forces and give them operational directives
- provisions to make it impossible to vote him out of office
- he took it upon himself to destroy hundreds of years of History by
abolishing kingdoms without asking the people in those kingdoms whether they
wanted to get rid of their institutions or not
- he disempowered the Court of Appeal
- he destroyed the federal system by instituting a one-size-fits-all system
of local government with no legislative or executive powers, in other words,
a coerced unity with no consideration for the diverse particularities of the
component regions.
When Obote talks about 'one parliament' he means a parliament without a
single opposition MP.
With all this background in public domain, some people still ask what was
undemocratic about the 1967 constitution !
With time, I shall provide more bwiino about the atmosphere during Obote's
regime.
Kasangwawo.
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