On May 23, MPs returned the National Legal Aid Bill, 2022 to the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for reconsideration. This happened during the plenary sitting chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa, who is also the Rubanda North MP (NRM). 

However, as Nelson Kiva writes, the Bill, which was tabled by the Kumi Municipality MP (Independent), Silas Aogon, is littered with contradictions that are likely to kill its motive of opening doors for the poor to access free legal aid.

During plenary on May 23, the National Legal Aid Bill, 2022 was not enacted after MPs recommended that it should be stayed, citing its huge financial implication on the consolidated fund.

“The committee finds that the Bill does not impose tangible, accountable and achievable obligations on Government due to the limitations imposed on private Member's Bill under Article 93 of the Constitution,” Bunyole East County, Yusuf Mutembuli (NRM) said, noting that for the Bill to be implemented, sh47.6b is required annually.

Article 93 of the Constitution restricts Parliament from passing bills or motions that impose a charge on the consolidated fund or other public fund of Uganda without approval of Government.

The Bill seeks to regulate the provision of legal aid services by legal aid service providers in Uganda and pave way for the grant of legal aid services to indigent, marginalised and vulnerable persons.

MPs argued that it is a right of every Ugandan to be effectively represented in any litigation process before a court of law.

However, what is worrying, according to activists, is the fact that many Ugandans can’t afford a lawyer for representation before courts of law due to poverty.

More concerning to them, is the fact that even the available pro bono schemes, can’t afford reaching out to all Ugandans due to limited financing, especially with the pulling out of the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF), which has been the lead funder of most of these schemes.

With this in mind, led by the religious leaders under their umbrella arrangement, the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU), this week implored Government to accelerate the process to formulate the National Legal Aid law.

During a prayer and advocacy breakfast on the National Legal Aid Bill 2022 hosted by the Legal Aid Service Providers Network (LASPNET), IRCU, the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) and Sweden Sverige at Kampala Sheraton Hotel this week, religious leaders said the Bill will also solve the problem of injustice.

This Bill resonates with one of IRCU’s Core values and distinctive identity, which is Justice. The IRCU envisions “A divinely peaceful, united, prosperous Uganda where all people enjoy full health and freedoms for the common good,” the presiding apostle of the Born Again Churches in Uganda, Apostle Joseph Sserwada, said.

The State of Access to Justice Report, 2017 noted that poverty is a major hindrance to access to Justice in Uganda.

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) 2021 report estimated that 12.3 million people (30.1% of the population lived below the poverty line set at U.S. $1.77 per person per day.

“There are many prisoners on remand that cannot get timely justice in the courts either because they cannot afford legal costs or because the courts are overwhelmed due to the court cases backlog,” Sserwada said.

The IRCU recommended that Parliament should further study the Bill and in case there are necessary changes to be undertaken at the committee level, the same be rectified for the Bill to be debated and considered by Parliament.

The chief executive officer of LASPNET, Sylvia Namubiru Mukasa said the journey to advocate for the law started 12 years ago and consultations with support from different partners have been ongoing.

She noted that they were counting on the religious leaders’ influence to effectively advocate for the passing of the Bill into law.

“It is for this purpose, that we are here to solicit for your support to ensure that this Bill is adopted and passed so that every Ugandan is able to be effectively represented while seeking justice in courts of law,” Namubiri said.

The National Legal Aid Bill 2022 was initially moved in the 10th Parliament but did not go far due to the closure of business.

However, suffered a setback after the late Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah asked the House to reject all the uncompleted Bills from the 10th Parliament.

During the plenary sitting chaired by Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa on May 23, 2023, the Bill was resurrected and moved for second reading.

However, Parliament returned it to the Committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs for reconsideration.

The decision followed the revelation by the Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka before the committee that the government had a funding gap of more than sh47b to provide legal services every year.

Kiryowa also suggested that a single entity be created to provide legal aid rather than multiple centres.

“During the second reading, I was shocked and began panicking when I saw the vice chairperson of this committee, making a U-turn on the Bill and saying legal aid was expensive for the government of Uganda to manage before he called for the Bill to be shelved,” Aogon, who tabled the Bill, said.

 Aogon appealed to the religious leaders to use their strong voice and influence to engage President Yoweri Museveni to have the legislation passed noting that the fate of the Bill was a political question that the current leadership at Parliament can’t handle on its own.

The former Attorney General, Fred Ruhindi, said legal aid to everyone was well in line with the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ideology of mass alignment, and that it should be taken as a priority.

“And I have this hope that this law will pass and let us take up this matter with the President,” Ruhindi said.

What MPs said

Silas Aogon, Kumi Municipality MP (Independent) 

This Bill received a certificate of financial implication. Therefore, it is officially recognised. I want to believe officers of Government in the Ministry of Finance and Parliament know the distinction between what offends and does not offend Article 93 of the Constitution.

Kiryowa Kiwanuka, Attorney General

Legal aid is not a bad thing at all; the issue that we have is that legal aid is an expensive function, and as Government, we need to be clear on how to sustain it. Let us sit down with the private member and work through this Bill properly.

Thomas Tayebwa, Deputy Speaker

It is a bad precedent for a committee to shoot down a private member’s Bill. If you have a problem with some clauses, why not remove those clauses? At the committee stage, you can drop the clauses you are not comfortable with but not the entire Bill.

Yusuf Mutembuli, Bunyole East County (NRM) 

The funding proposals in the Bill are not sustainable since they heavily rely on the goodwill of donors with little or no government involvement in funding legal aid services.