Persons with criminal record should
Mar 11, 2003
ARUU County MP Samuel Odonga Otto’s allegation that one of the MPs, was in 1979 on the Police wanted list for alleged crimes against humanity, is extremely serious and ought to be investigated.
Midweek Opinion: with John Kakande
ARUU County MP Samuel Odonga Otto’s allegation that one of the MPs, was in 1979 on the Police wanted list for alleged crimes against humanity, is extremely serious and ought to be investigated.
During the debate on the report of the Adhoc Committee on the sale of Uganda Commercial Bank limited (UCBL) in Parliament last week, Otto said he had found a newspaper cutting of October 31, 1979 in his pigeonhole, with photographs of 15 people who at the time were on the Police wanted list in connection with the atrocities, which were committed by the Idi Amin’s notorious hit squad — the State Research Bureau (SRB). The 15 people allegedly included one of the current MPs.
Otto’s allegation has very serious implications for the image of the august assembly. The Speaker Edward Ssekandi has challenge to safeguard image of the august assembly. A recent opinion poll commissioned by the Donor Democracy and Governance Group has indicated that of all Uganda’s elected leaders, the MPs have the lowest public approval rating at 48%. Parliament should not expect its image to improve if it glosses over damning ethical issues, as it appears to be doing.
The SRB atrocities were extensively documented by the Justice Oder Commission, which was set up by the NRM administration to probe past atrocities. The SRB operatives were responsible for torture, murder and disappearance of hundreds of people. The Oder Commission’s conclusion was that SRB accounted “for the largest number of cold-blooded murders in Uganda’s post independence history.â€
Any person who served in such a callous institution or was associated with such repulsive, Kony-type atrocities does not deserve to be in Parliament. Prior to the Constituent Assembly elections in 1994, former operatives of Amin’s SRB and Obote’s security agency; NASA were prohibited by law from holding any elective office. The existing elections Act does not bar former operatives of SRB and NASA from holding elective offices, but all the same it would be scandalous for a former member of the Amin hit squad to be a Member of Parliament.
It is a serious mistake that no efforts have been made to identify and blacklist persons who over the years served in notorious agencies. It is risky to let the killers of yesteryear take up leadership positions. What a shame that a prime suspect in the cruel murder of Archbishop Janan Luwum is now a district councillor in Mukono.
Persons who served in notorious security agencies or who were implicated in atrocities should by law be prohibited from holding any public office. It should be a legal requirement for any person seeking a public office to declare his or her detailed curriculum vitae. This would ensure that persons with criminal or questionable records are barred from assuming leadership positions.
ARUU County MP Samuel Odonga Otto’s allegation that one of the MPs, was in 1979 on the Police wanted list for alleged crimes against humanity, is extremely serious and ought to be investigated.
During the debate on the report of the Adhoc Committee on the sale of Uganda Commercial Bank limited (UCBL) in Parliament last week, Otto said he had found a newspaper cutting of October 31, 1979 in his pigeonhole, with photographs of 15 people who at the time were on the Police wanted list in connection with the atrocities, which were committed by the Idi Amin’s notorious hit squad — the State Research Bureau (SRB). The 15 people allegedly included one of the current MPs.
Otto’s allegation has very serious implications for the image of the august assembly. The Speaker Edward Ssekandi has challenge to safeguard image of the august assembly. A recent opinion poll commissioned by the Donor Democracy and Governance Group has indicated that of all Uganda’s elected leaders, the MPs have the lowest public approval rating at 48%. Parliament should not expect its image to improve if it glosses over damning ethical issues, as it appears to be doing.
The SRB atrocities were extensively documented by the Justice Oder Commission, which was set up by the NRM administration to probe past atrocities. The SRB operatives were responsible for torture, murder and disappearance of hundreds of people. The Oder Commission’s conclusion was that SRB accounted “for the largest number of cold-blooded murders in Uganda’s post independence history.â€
Any person who served in such a callous institution or was associated with such repulsive, Kony-type atrocities does not deserve to be in Parliament. Prior to the Constituent Assembly elections in 1994, former operatives of Amin’s SRB and Obote’s security agency; NASA were prohibited by law from holding any elective office. The existing elections Act does not bar former operatives of SRB and NASA from holding elective offices, but all the same it would be scandalous for a former member of the Amin hit squad to be a Member of Parliament.
It is a serious mistake that no efforts have been made to identify and blacklist persons who over the years served in notorious agencies. It is risky to let the killers of yesteryear take up leadership positions. What a shame that a prime suspect in the cruel murder of Archbishop Janan Luwum is now a district councillor in Mukono.
Persons who served in notorious security agencies or who were implicated in atrocities should by law be prohibited from holding any public office. It should be a legal requirement for any person seeking a public office to declare his or her detailed curriculum vitae. This would ensure that persons with criminal or questionable records are barred from assuming leadership positions.