Some work on Uganda

Utilising the faith potential for responsive governance.

A CALL FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTITUTIONALISM AND RULE OF LAW IN UGANDA BY
A Concern of the National Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace of
the Catholic Bishops of Uganda


1.0 Greetings and Addressee

1.1 To all the people and citizens of Uganda but especially decision makers and in particular the legislative arm of government. We greet you in the name of God the Creator and Father of all, and the Love of Jesus Christ our Liberator and in the unity of the Holy Spirit our Teacher and the Truth.

1.2 Sustainable constitutionalism and rule of law for a participatory promotion of the common good for all is a life-long process that is NOT based on the system of confrontation and battling it out on majority bases. On the contrary it is rather based on the principle of dialogue, mutual respect and mutual trust guided by a spirit of reaching a consensus in view of obtaining the common good for all and not a few.

1.3 In principle, there is an urgent need to shift from the Western colonial and anti-religious mentality and attitude that is geared towards the political / economic system that favours a few and is a major root cause of politics being branded ‘a dirty game’. On the contrary, according to the African understanding and experience, politics and economics are rooted in the African religion, which is God, people, and environmental centered; for religion is the greatest of all means for the establishment of order in the world and for the just and peaceful contentment of all people and environment. That is why Jesus Christ came into the world to liberate humanity and the environment from political or economic enslavement (cfr. Lk. 4: 18-19; Rom. 8: 18-22) to restore the original political and economical order and transform the people into agents of integral development. (cfr.Col.1:13-20)

1.4 The participatory processes that gave birth to the Uganda 1995 Constitution paved a new way, culture and space of understanding and doing clean politics. This is a process that has enabled Ugandans to develop a new system of generating relevant political and economic knowledge and skills which empower politicians, the electorate, civil society and all faithful to participate meaningfully in working together for the common good for all. It should be continuously and maximally utilized. The National Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishop of Uganda, notes with deep concern that that the delayed implementation of the proposed Electoral reforms, accompanied by a continued lack of a political will of the legislators to seriously scrutinize some of the tested Constitutional provisions with gaps, is a deliberate violation of the true principles of democracy in the country.

2.0 The Current Situation:
The principle of Constitutionalism and Rule of Law in Uganda binds all citizens irrespective of status, race, political or any other differences. It is rooted in a set of convinced acceptance of the values that inspire democratic procedures without which the deepest meaning of democracy is lost and its stability compromised (Pontifical council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, #407). The church is concerned that currently, this conviction and commitment to the common good has been submerged by selfish drives that are pushing some individuals and groups into behaving as if they are above the law. This has resulted into a lot of social disorder that is not only among the electorate but even inside the legislative house.

3.0 Democracy and Rule of Law:
As many sources, like the prominent Arusha Conference on popular participation and the Kampala African Leadership Forum and the Common Wealth, stipulate that democracy and rule of law must be nurtured and promoted towards a living reality. Good governance should embrace democracy, pluralism, political accountability, and efficient administration, rule of law and respect of human, political, civil, social and economic rights. It is Church’s conviction that political representation must have a strong moral dimension which consist in the commitment to share fully in the destiny of the people and seek solutions to social problems other than run away when things turn out to be more than earning allowances. In this perspective, a responsible authority that comes from the people’s power invested in their representatives should be exercised with those virtues that make it possible to put power into practice as service. Such virtues include, among others, patience, modesty, moderation, charity and sharing. However such values are possible only to those who are able to accept the common good and not prestige or the gaining of personal advantages as the true goal of their work (Pontifical council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, #407)

4.0 The role of Parliamentarians in upholding major principles of Democracy:
We applaud Parliament on all the positive steps undertaken to address many issues of national concerns including, the continuous struggle against corruption. We however note with concern that the foundation and growth of this country entirely depends on strong pillars of the three arms of government. These are the Judiciary, the Executive and Legislative all of which represent a system of democratic governance. It is through them that the ideal good governance, the rule of law and constitutionalism can be realized. Our concern, this time, is not on all the three arms of the government but special attention is on the legislative arm which plays a key role in the law making process. As provided for under Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Uganda the institution of Parliament consists of various members representing specific groups or electoral constituencies. These act as mouth-piece and advocates for the people of the areas they represent. They are supposed to deliberate on key issues and come out with pro-people and pro-development laws through genuine deliberations, debates, compromise and cooperation among themselves as members representing the different constituencies and the different interest groups. This is only possible when the people’s representatives are credible and their presence in the political arena can bring Gospel values to the political process.

5.0 The People’s Power:
5.1 “All Power belongs to the people …” (Constitution of the republic of Uganda, 1995, Chap 1, art.1, (1), (2), (3), & (4)) states the 1995 Uganda National Constitution. This in itself, when understood in context, justifies the fact that demands for democracy are in many cases and should be action oriented. When the people fail to see things happen in accordance with their expectations, they are justified when, at times, they practically make demands in a way of their choice because power belongs to them. For example, in the Philippines, unarmed rosary carrying civilians under the banner, ‘People Power’, demonstrated undeterred by Marcos' military machinery and managed to successfully demand for democratic change. Therefore, members of parliament must always know that they are in parliament by the will and power of the people. This is a reflection of a true democracy of people’s power through representatives and portrays the characteristics of a democratic citizenship which is the backbone upon which true democracy is established. It however needs skilful, honest, responsible and committed members of parliament with the ability to bring about change through mutual agreement for the benefit of the electorate.

5.2 The electorate must be kept informed of the issues of the day by their respective parliamentarians, monitor their performance by talking and sharing with them the concerns of the community. In addition they should task them to explain the progress on some of the key issues affecting the people. The 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, under the national objectives and Directive Principles of state policy, stipulates that one of the duties of the Member of Parliament, as a citizen of Uganda, is to acquaint him/herself with the provisions of the Constitution and to uphold and defend the constitution and the law.

6.0 Understanding the Role of Parliament
6.1 The electorate and parliamentarians alike should all carefully understand and comprehend to the role of parliament as the supreme legislative body of the land. All people must appreciate its significance by upholding constitutionalism and rule of law. It should as well be seriously noted that a Member of Parliament needs more than academic qualifications. He/she needs the ability to make thoughtful and informed decisions, think critically, communicate effectively with others, and have the capacity and untiring commitment to work with others in a spirit of cooperation. This is often times not reflected amongst some members of parliament when they opt to storm out of parliament at a time when key important decisions affecting the country are being taken and yet such action has never and will never bear good fruits at the end. In any case, the storming out of parliament means abusing the people’s freedom to choose and participate through their representatives.

6.2 We may agree that moving out parliament would be one way of expressing dissatisfaction with the process but, it should be done on a clear principle. For instance when some opposition members of parliament walked out of parliament in protest against the reappointment of the chairman and some members of the Electoral Commission, it was not clear what they exactly protested against. Did they protest against the process of appointment or the individuals who were reappointed? What does the constitution say about the process and the action of the president presenting the commissioners to parliament? If the constitutional provisions were inadequate who then should have looked at them and moved a motion for amendment? It all comes back to parliamentarians and questions their seriousness in carrying out their roles and responsibilities for which they were elected. This is no doubt but a serious betrayal of the people’s faith and trust they have in their representatives. In spite of all resistance we however do not have any incident on record where members of parliament stormed out in protest against increasing their salaries and allowances yet they have on some occasions twisted the Constitution for their own benefit.

7.0 Upholding the Supremacy of the Constitution
7.1 Law makers must always work within the confines of the provisions of the Constitution under which certain duties are discharged not only by parliament but also by other arms of government. In this respect therefore, legislators must know the relevant legal provisions and procedure under which business of parliament is supposed to be discharged. It is a deep desire to have a legislature which handles issues critically and on a principled point of view. All leaders must reflect principled politics and leadership. Mahatma Gandhi once commented that “one of the most prominent blunders of the world is practicing politics without principle”. Members of parliament must know the difference between competition and cooperation. There is no competition in matters pertaining to discharging their duties as people’s representatives, what we need is cooperation in order to achieve the common good. Opposition does NOT at all mean confrontation but alternative ideas and strategies for better interventions for good governance. Therefore, emotions basing on ones political affiliation are contrary to the interests and wishes of the people. Legislators need to be all-embracing when it comes to service.

7.2 While storming out of Parliament could be depicted as bravery, it however has nothing to do with the wishes or views of the people represented. Instead it directly negates the concept of representative democracy in parliament. This calls for educating the voters that they have a constitutional right to recall a member of the legislature. The electorate under Article 84(2b) is empowered to exercise this right to recall and remove a delinquent member of parliament. The more the problems in parliament the more the law makers should stay in the house to amicable discuss and resolve the matter and bring change through constitutional means. What we need is to advocate for quick and timely electoral law reforms. The executive should act in a timely manner and members of parliament should exploit many other means like bringing private members bills instead of waiting for the executive to act.

7.3 We cannot have a sustainable democratic environment unless Ugandans take up their responsibility to own the process. That is what we mean by the power and will of the people as guaranteed under Article 1 of the Constitution. We desire to see constructive debate with a view to identify values and strategies that can assist the country to avoid the constitutional mistakes already identified with our past. This way a culture of constitutionalism and rule of law can be fostered and promoted. We are convinced that majority Ugandans want to see an independent legislature, judiciary and the executive with each complementing the other in form of providing for checks and balances but not coercing each other.

7.4 A strong opposition reflects democracy. The opposition as part of the democratization process must see itself as the alternative government of tomorrow. We can avoid political anarchy if the opposition acts responsibly. A strong and responsible opposition builds towards consensus. It becomes ridiculous if the members of the opposition break the laws which they well know they will apply when they come into power. The opposition must respect the constitution and more so, the sovereignty of the people. In principle we need a multiparty system of parliamentary democracy which can guarantee freedom of expression, assembly, freedom of the press and freedom of participation for all Ugandans but all parties abiding by the law.

8.0 Electoral Reforms
8.1 One of the essential elements of electoral democracy is the establishment and existence of an independent, impartial and autonomous Electoral Commission and, commitment by Government and other players to protect and promote an environment of peace, the rule of law, harmony and civility during the entire electoral exercise. An electoral process that creates room for doubt, in regard to its fairness, poses a lot of danger to the nation. History proves it that mishandling the electoral processes and messing up with people’s votes has continued to cause anarchy in this country since the 80s. Therefore, with the past experience of how the electoral commission has been doing its work, it is obvious that drastic changes in the commission are a must and urgently needed. Without such, the central and cardinal pillars of a democratic society are lost and the culture of constitutionalism and rule of law will remain a dream. We should all know that it is possible to have elections without democracy but it is not possible to have democracy without elections. Although on many occasions the efforts of the opposition to push for a number of reforms have been frustrated and judged as having not used the correct approaches and procedure, it still remains your responsibility as opposition to push for things that must be done in the best way possible through your unreserved prevision of alternative critical thinking, ideas and strategies.

8.2 The history of suffering of Ugandans, as a result of anomalies in the electoral process in the past, must be a good lesson for us all. It should be critically noted that there is a strong desire for electoral reforms, on the part of the people, which the ruling government must give priority. This should be a concrete expression of its political will to support the promotion of sustainable electoral democracy and involvement of all stakeholders in their own governance and development.

8.3 The electoral challenge of conceding defeat is also very crucial to the entire democratic process. There is need to establish an authority, with excellent credentials and sufficient power and resources to effectively arbitrate in this greatest of all political challenges. We must move away from the present unsatisfactory situation whereby, in most cases the electoral Commissioners seem to be political appointees with their independence not adequately guaranteed.

9.0 Conclusion
In conclusion, we retaliate the earlier message in the March 1989 Pastoral letter of the Catholic Bishops of Uganda “Towards a New National Constitution; Guidelines of the Catholic Bishops of Uganda” that we look at Jesus the master who never directly entered the political arena; yet as master and Teacher, denounced the political evils of His time and gave clear directives to His followers and to all people of Good will. He does not flinch from branding Herod “fox” denouncing Him of his bad political leadership (Lk. 13:31-33). He advises His disciples never to act as “pagan rulers” (Lk.22:24-27), cfr. also Lk. 9:47ff; 17:7-10; and warns Pilate not to forget that his power over life or death comes from God (Jn. 19:11). Jesus truly wills a community built on love, solidarity, justice, honesty and peacefulness. At the same time, He teaches us realism, the art of looking for the possible step which, here and now, serves the best on the road towards greater hope. We earnestly call upon the present legislators who are charged with the responsibility of making laws to heed these directives. It is only then that government will work under God’s supremacy and the common good for all be obtained (The Catholic Bishops of Uganda, Towards a New National Constitution, Guidelines of the Catholic Bishops of Uganda, Marianum Press – Kisubi, 1989, pg 22)

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover His face to you and bring you peace [Numbers 6:24 –