Uganda’s democracy in reverse - Kanyeihamba

Kampala Supreme Court judge George Wilson Kanyeihamba yesterday said the country’s democratic journey had taken reverse strides for the worse and cited examples of the Executive’s overbearing influence on Parliament as evidence to back his assertion. Officiating at the launch of a watchdog report that assess the overall individual performance of Members of Parliament in Kampala, Justice Kanyeihamba tore into President Museveni’s democratic credentials after he charged the ruling NRM regime of not only undermining Parliament, but usurping the Legislature’s power. Justice Kanyeihamba, who was once Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs in President Museveni’s first post-bush war government, said the framers of the 1995 Constitution, including himself, had deliberately given Parliament enormous power to act as a check on government excesses, but recent events had shown that Parliament had failed in executing its oversight role. “We made sure that no government policy can pass without debate and sanction of Parliament, no judge, no minister, no ambassador can be appointed without Parliament actually saying so. What has happened over the years? The reverse has occurred.” The judge added: “Today Parliament waits for the word of the Executive and when the President has spoken, let he who speaks be condemned....For goodness sake what has happened to this country?” The judge, who retires from the Supreme Court in November, questioned the system of caucusing under a multiparty parliament, picking issue with the ruling NRM which boasts a majority in the House, discusses and debates national issues behind closed doors of the party’s parliamentary caucus, and suggested that the requirement to toe party lines was hurting the growth of democracy in the country. “If you look at the British Parliament, they go in the lobby when there is a controversial measure and people who spoke for it or against that measure are known that very evening. In Uganda we don’t know how many members of the movement opposed or supported a particular proposal because they are told to keep silent when they are in Parliament,” he said. Addressing himself to the contents of the scorecard report compiled by a leading think tank, the Africa Leadership Institute (Afli), Justice Kanyeihamba said while the report had suggested that the performance of Parliament had improved the past year, there “is a general perception in the country that this Parliament has let us down.” Afli chairman Elly Karuhanga said democracy and accountability in the country is often undermined because the electorate is usually not informed about the function and processes of Parliament, let alone the performance of individual MPs. However, with the publication of the scorecard which shows how MPs have fared, Mr Karuhanga said the Ugandan electorate now has a new window in which to hold their MPs accountable. He also said the “innovation of the scorecard” will not only stop at assessing Parliament, but that torch will be shot at the Executive and the Judiciary as well. Attendance by MPs was dismal, with less than 10 MPs showing face, even though the entire House had been invited for the event. Their absence reflected the dread and apprehension that MPs have greeted the release of the report. NRM Vice Chairman for Eastern Uganda, Mr Mike Mukula, who represented the Chief Whip Daudi Migereko, said the scorecard offered the “an opportunity to deepen democracy and uphold constitutionalism in this country.”