The Attorney General William Byaruhanga, who is the official government legal advisor, has been dragged to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), over a raft of supposed commissions or omissions carried out by the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga and the Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura, when the tow allegedly ordered a raid on the parliamentary chambers.
Led by the Leader of Opposition Winnie Kiiza, five MPs Ibrahim Semujju Nganda, John Baptist Nambeshe, Gerald Karuhanga and Betty Nambooze, joined by Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) stalwart Alice Alaso Asianut and lawyer Irene Ovonji Odida, the group avers that by among others, Kadaga’s throwing out of opposition MPs on September 27 without according them a hearing, was in breach of the East African Community Treaty to which Uganda as a partner state, is signatory.
At the time chaos broke out in Parliament as the legislators were due to debate a Private Members Bill tabled by Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi, aimed at removing the 75-year age limit cap enshrined in the 1995 Constitution.
In the 23-page petition filed on November 24 by lawyer Donald Deya on behalf of Messrs. Pan African Lawyers Union of Arusha, Tanzania and Victoria Advocates and Legal Consultants of Kampala, the petitioners also accuse Kadaga of, directly or indirectly, allowing members of the Special Forces Command to storm the floor of Parliament to forcefully evict the opposition MPs, in the process injuring some of the legislators like Angeline Osegge and Francis Zaake Butebi.
The petitioners also seek the interpretation of the EACJ on a number of issues among them governance, accountability, obligations, freedoms and rights that are enshrined in the Constitution of Uganda, in respect to the EAC Treaty, with one of their points of contention being the amendment of Article 102 (b) of the Uganda Constitution to remove the age limit, to pave the way for a ‘Museveni life presidency’.
The full petition below.
