By Peter Nyanzi
Over the past three decades, President Yoweri Museveni has invested much effort in ensuring that good governance and democracy are entrenched in Uganda’s politics. As soon as he took over power in 1986, Mr Museveni’s government embarked on the laborious and expensive task of drafting a new Constitution to form the foundation on which wide-ranging political reforms, good governance and social transformation would be built.
Indeed, the 1995 Constitution was drafted, debated and promulgated with the noble aim of “building a better future by establishing a socio-economic and political order … based on the principles of unity, peace, equality, democracy, freedom, social justice and progress.”
To that end, the State was mandated by the Constitution to endeavor to mobilise, organise and empower the people to build independent and sustainable foundations for the development of Uganda and to guarantee and respect the independence of organisations that protect and promote human rights. In the same spirit, more than 10 institutions were created by the Constitution, which are supposed to be independent and “must not be subject to the control and direction of any person or authority in the performance of their duties.”
These institutions – the majority of them oversight institutions – include the Uganda Human Rights Commission, Electoral Commission, Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the Judicial Service Commission and Bank of Uganda. The others are, the Office of the Auditor General, Public Service Commission, Education Service Commission, Health Service Commission, and the Inspectorate of Government.
Implicitly, the other two arms of the state - the Judiciary and Parliament - are also supposed to be independent of the Executive in line with the universally-acclaimed principle of ‘separation of powers.’ This is intended to ensure adequate ‘checks and balances’ as a safeguard against dictatorship so that one arm of the State does not wield absolute power.
Why independence?
The framers of the Constitution purposely shielded the 10 institutions from external control or and direction because they knew that these independent state/public institutions would have a big role to play in consolidating democratic governance and an accountable government.
There are other non-state institutions such as the Church, the media and civil society organizations, which are also supposed to be independent and autonomous; given their importance as bulwarks against autocracy, bad governance and abuse of public office. Indeed, these institutions are necessary to safeguard the public interest by standing as ‘a go between’ for the private sphere and the State, which is why it is absolutely important that they are autonomous, independent and free from bias as a result of external State influences.
Over the past 25 years, President Museveni’s government has been credited for setting up dozens of other semi-autonomous bodies under various ministries to support public service provision. These include the authorities – such as UFA, URA, CAA, ERA, NEMA, UIA, KCCA, UCC, etc) and corporations such as UBC, NW&SC, and semi-autonomous entities such as Vision Group and NAADS.
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| A MERE CHANGE OF GUARD OR FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE? Yoweri Kaguta Museveni swearing-in as president in 1986 soon after his National Resistance Army rebels captured power. |
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| 25 YEARS LATER, NOT YET UHURU: While the NRM has made significant improvement in the area of security, and economic recovery, allegations of bribery, corruption, nepotism, and human rights violations continue to dog Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni's government. |
However, one does not dig too deep to note that the independence of most if not all of these venerable institutions has been compromised, politicized or abused under President Museveni’s regime. Every one of them, notably the IGG, Bank of Uganda, the various Commissions and the DPP have totally lost the shine on their independence and autonomy. Ironically, it is President Museveni who pushed for their creation who has contributed most to this state of affairs.
Strong institutions vital to democracy
On his first trip to the African continent in July 2009 only months after being elected US President, Mr Barack Obama famously stated that, “Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.” Indeed, Uganda is gradually moving back to a situation whereby a few strongmen are more powerful than the august institutions that are supposed to protect the public interest and ‘public goods.’
We see what ACODE Executive Director Godbar Tumushabe describes as “strategic political opportunism” that has put these noble institutions under immense pressure from “entrenched interests” and “patronage networks” that make it impossible for them to achieve their constitutional mandate and eventually the long-term development and governance objectives of the country. All these key institutions have lost credibility in the eyes of the public because of patronage and public service delivery is suffering.
I think it is not too late to reverse this trend. I do agree with President Obama that Uganda indeed does need strong and independent institutions more than a strong Presidency. One way to avoid this is to ensure that the heads of these institutions are not appointed by the President, because there is a danger of one pandering to the whims of the appointing authority.
If institutions were given the legroom and freedom to do their work professionally without undue external pressure, President Museveni would not even have too much work to do and he would perform his mandate more effectively. Assuming the various organs of an organism are doing their roles well without any disruption, the brain would not have to work a lot. Yet, here we are with a President who is stressed, overworked and losing control because almost everything is referred to his attention. Is it any wonder that he has never taken a holiday like his peers in other countries do every year?
In this new term of office, the NRM can determine to revisit the ideals of the past, rebuild trust in institutions and give them the freedom to fulfill their mandate, which as I have already stated, is the bedrock of accountable government, the rule of law and democratic governance.
The writer is an MA student of Journalism & Communication at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
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