FREEDOM | RIGHTS | JUSTICE 

KAMPALA - The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has asked Parliament to drop the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill, which was introduced by Kampala Central MP Muhammad Nsereko, calling it a bad Bill that seeks to curtail freedom of expression. 

In a presentation by the ULS president Pheona Nabasa Wall which was read by Anthony Kakooza, the association of lawyers said, “By proposing to use a sledgehammer to hit a mosquito that is biting one’s arm, the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Bill may only end up decapitating the arm. 

Overall, it is an unnecessary amendment to the law, with already existing alternatives which can be strengthened and utilized in realizing what it seeks to enforce.” 

ULS noted that the Bill seeks to stifle the rights associated with the freedom of expression and the right of access to information, which would be counterproductive to the country’s progress. 

ULS told the committee that most of the proposals are already provided for in many other existing laws including the Data Protection and Privacy Act and the Penal Code Act. 

On the proposed amendment to section 26A to criminalize sending misleading and malicious information goes against the ruling of the Supreme Court which outlawed criminalization of publishing false information. 

“It is also farfetched to think that all computer users in Uganda have the capacity to verify all information before sharing the same. Thus, the Bill seeks to blanketly imprison Ugandans from kids in schools to elders in the villages to up to seven years merely for their incapacity to verify information before the same is shared,” Uganda Law Society argues. 

The ICT ministry also appeared before the committee and called for the withdrawal of the Bill. 

The ministry argued that not only are many of the proposals in the Bill already catered for in other existing laws but the ministry is in advanced stages of introducing a more comprehensive law that will merge all laws under the information and communication sector into one law. 

The Computer Misuse Amendment Bill, which some have named “kill the social media Bill,” has been vehemently opposed by all media stakeholders arguing it would worsen Uganda’s rating in adherence to press freedom. 

The latest World Press Freedom Index report indicates that Uganda’s rating in adherence to press freedom has declined to position 125 from position 117 where it was three years ago.