By Jumah Kakomo
The minister for justice and constitutional affairs Norbert Mao has lashed at the opposition political party leaders for always liaising with the international community with the aim of overthrowing the current regime.
Mao who was delivering his remarks on Friday during the Rule of law symposium held at Kampala said that many opposition top leaders play drama politics to serve their interests which at times leads to deaths and loss of properties.
He singled out the 18th November 2020, Deadly protests in Uganda following the arrest of the National Unity Platform (NUP) president Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine which resulted into the deaths of several people and dozens wounded as police fired tear gas and bullets to disperse Kyagulanyi’s supporters who were protesting against his arrest by blocking roads and burning tyres after news broke that he had been arrested in the town of Luuka and taken to a police station in the city of Jinja.
Mao says he has information that the protest was as a result of one of the top opposition leaders who he did not identify receiving a call from the international community directing him to mobilize the masses to protest as a way of prompting the international community to intervene to save the lives.
“I have information about that, when you have somebody seeking power in Uganda and he has partners abroad, they call him asking him to bring thousands of people at the street and to provoke the security forces so that they cause a massacre. And that massacre can be a basis for invoking the civilians to protest like what it has been happening in other countries. I won’t go into details because time has not yet come for me to tell you who made the call, but I know who made the call, who received the call and I know the details of the conservation; Ugandan state can’t just keep quiet when people are tarnishing it,” Mao Stated.
Mao says the opposition parties and government demonizing one another is not the best solution for regime change but instead creates a toxic environment and thus it must stop and instead focus on holding constructive engagements with the state if their agenda is regime change.
He says the government is working tirelessly to ensure effective service delivery to Ugandans such as increasing the number of judges in at least the high court, and court of appeal as well as recruiting magistrates in every constituency of Uganda. Adding that today, in some jurisdictions, a magistrate is a judicial officer who hears cases in a lower court, and typically deals with more minor or preliminary matters.
The president of Uganda Law Society (ULS), Bernard Oundo expressed dismay over the way suspects are arrested saying it is contrary to the constitution.
“ULS is concerned about what is happening in the country and we believe through constructive engagements and continuous advocacy for respect of law and constitution, the rule of law will prevail over in the country, “Oundo said.
The executive director of Foundation for Human Rights Initiatives (FHRI), Dr. Livingstone Ssewanyana advised the government to always empower ULS to successfully execute its work of protecting and assisting the public in Uganda in all matters relating to the law and better the standards of conduct and learning of lawyers in Uganda among others.
