The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has proposed several amendments for the public order management bill to conform to the constitutional requirements as well as the international human rights.
Lead by James Mukasa Sebugenyi, the ULS President, the lawyers want parliament to trim the powers of the Inspector General of Police who in their view is likely to abuse his powers. They also advised parliament to focus on legitimacy of the police.
ULS says the bill in its current form restricts public meetings as opposed to facilitating the meetings. It also curtails the freedom of speech and association. The lawyers argue that the bill gives a license to police to use excessive force as well as stifle public debate on issues of national importance.
According to Sebugenyi, the bill reintroduces provisions of the police Act that were nullified by the Constitutional court. In 2008, the court ruled that section 32 of the Police Act unjustifiably limited the rights to freedoms of assembly and association prescribed in the Constitution. The section had given police unilateral powers to prohibit any assembly, procession or demonstration believed to cause breach of peace.
But ULS is not opposed to passing a law to prescribe measures for safeguarding the public order. The lawyers say public order has now become an international issue owing to the civil unrest sometimes leading to changes of Government, death of citizens and destruction of property. With this information, Parliament needs to balance the act, respect for the constitution and maintain law and order.
The law society also advised parliament to re-categorise public places that people need special permission to access. According to the bill, places like parliament and its precincts, courts of judicature, the airport, state house and state lodges can be accessed with special permission.
Crispus Kiyonga, the defense minister concurs with the idea to have demonstrations observed under the microscope. He says several people without a stable source of income are prone to join such demonstrations that have led to violence. Kiyonga adds that allowing demonstrations go unchecked could lead to instability as witnessed in other countries.
The Public order management bill was tabled in October for scrutiny. The bill is intended to regulate public meetings, the duties and responsibilities of police, the organizers and participants in relation to public meetings.
The bill seeks to manage public order in partnership with the organizers and participants in assemblies, demonstrations and processions. It also seeks to specify the procedure to be followed when organizing an assembly, a procession or demonstration as well as the penalties and sanctions to be imposed upon those found in breach of the proposed law.
