Clergy reject Public Order Bill

By Henry Sekanjako

The Uganda Joint Christian Council (UJCC) has called for the withdrawal of the Public Order Management Bill 2011, saying it will weaken democracy and undermine fundamental rights and freedom.

Appearing before the parliamentary committee on legal and parliamentary affairs, the council, led by the Lugazi Diocese Bishop Matthias Ssekamanya, argued that the bill would deny the enjoyment of freedoms to assemble, demonstrate and petition as enshrined in the constitution.

“We reject the bill in its entirety and call for its withdrawal,” Ssekamanya said.

Enacting a new law is not solving a problem. It is the challenge of leaders to identify the solution, said the cleric.

“Much of what is enshrined in the new law is already in the constitution and changing it will make the constitution cheap.”

The religious leaders urged government to invest resources in building institutions that will promote dialogue and consensus-building to address polarization among political leaders.

“There is no political party that would like to bring the country down.  We are all interested in peace and development. As a country we should be able to engage in dialogue,” Canon Joseph Oneka, Head of department Human rights at UJCC said.

“We know there have been demonstrations which are violent but government should find a way of deliberating on what causes these demos.”

Oneka added, “We don’t need a new law; we feel the existing laws are enough to address the situation.”

According to the secretary general UJCC Msgr. John Kauta, the bill seeks to vest in the Inspectorate of Police sweeping powers that can be used to undermine or deny, on a selective basis, the enjoyment of freedoms of assembly, to demonstrate and to petition .

Article 29 (1) (d) of the Uganda Constitution provides that every person has the right to freedom to assemble and to demonstrate together with others peacefully and unarmed.

“We feel the IGP will favor some political parties. He should be impartial but if he refuses them to express themselves, it will cause infuriate the people and possibly fuel more chaos,” the clerics collected.

However the committee vice chair Baka Mugabi argued, “The nature of demonstrations in the country is changing; people are very violent, which requires government to review its laws to regulate demos.”

“The current laws are inadequate and there is need to regulate the nature of current demos for safety of both members of the public and their property.”