Uganda’s newly sworn in representative Hon. Jacquiline Amongin (NRM, Ngora district) moved the motion, which came at the end of the First Session of the Third Parliament sitting in Midrand, South Africa, Thursday, October 18, 2012.

The motion was seconded by Hon. Smith Gabriel (Liberia).

Hon. Amongin observed that about 65 percent of Africa’s population is below the age of 35, which makes Africa the “most youthful continent.” She also noted that projections show that by 2020, three out of every four persons will be at an average of 20 years.

“Young Africans continue to face major difficulties regarding health, education and employment in most of the African Union Member States,” she said, adding, “the lack of requisite skills, resources and needed tools limit the overall participation of youth in local and national decision making, thus resulting into youth marginalization on the continent.”

The Pan African Parliament Youth Caucus will work along with civil society and other relevant stakeholders within African Union (AU) Member States to facilitate the ratification and implementation of the African Youth Charter.

The Caucus will also liaise with the Pan African Parliament Committee on Youth activities in working with parliaments of member countries to drive youth development agenda in keeping with the African Youth Charter.

Uganda’s other representatives to PAP are; Hon. Cecilia Atim Ogwal, Hon. Onyango Kakoba, Hon. Sam Awori Otada and Hon. Beatrice Barumba Rusaniya.

The other caucuses at PAP are based on regions – Eastern, Western, Southern, Central and Northern, as well as the Women Caucus.

The Pan African Parliament is the legislative body of the African Union but currently exercises oversight, advisory and consultative powers.

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Yesterday the A4C leader, Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye went to pray for retired Bp John Wilson Kahigwa of North Kigezi at All Saints Church .

The deceased man of God did not get President Museveni’s Pajero because he was critical of the NRM regime.

Bishop Zac Ndiringiye told the mourners that we have equalizers in life which are death and going to toilet.

The Bishop continued that dictators have bitter death. He advised Hon Jim Muhwezi to repent. Hon Jim Muhwezi told mourners as his late father a clergy would give them prayer instead of pocket money.

The minister present Mbagutta had earlier advised mourners to always go for checks of cancers. Col. Besigye replied that in this state of the cancer Institute if one is diagnosed of the disease, what happens after?

Ultimate Media

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Ugandans in the northern Uganda are to hold a round table meeting and also conduct victory party for some of the people who contested on opposition party ticket and won the polls.

The round table meeting will take place on Thursday this week in Nwoya district at a place called Lukutu.

The round table meeting will kick off in morning hours and the cerebrations will follow immediately from 2:00pm at Koch Amar trading centre also in Nwoya district.

The organisers of the two events have invited the president General of DP, Norbert Mao among other opposition leaders to attend the round table meeting. Why? This is because Hon. Mao comes from Northern Uganda.

By James Okello

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Besigye visited a place which is near a small river which the people in Budadiri call a Beach. Nandala took Besigye and other A4C officials around Budadiri town and he (Mafabi) slaughtered a goat for Besigye.

The people of Kumi gave Besigye a live goat and a ship plus a hen.

Then Besigye jumped over it. He later told the people of Kumi that he wanted to remind them when Museveni jumped over a dead cow in Sudan a few years back. He urged the people of Kumi to denounce Museveni because he jumps over dead cows.

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Present were Hon. Eng Amuriat MP Humi County,  Dr. Besigye, Salamu Musumba, Gen. Mugisha Muntu, Hon Kasiano Wadri, Hon, Florence Ibi, Hon. Dr. Epetit, Hon. Okupa, Hon Sasaga. Major Kazoora, Nandala Mafabi and Mike Mukula.

Then the RDC of Humi Mpimbaza Ashaka came and wanted to stop the rally. But Besigye and the people power was too big for the RDC to contain. Besigye then picked a microphone and told the people that RDC Ashaka was chased from Makerere University for cheating exams. The RDC jumped to grab the microphone from Besigye and the fight erupted. The RDC later left the rally very disappointed and went to report the fracas at the police.

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Date: 20^th February 2012

Hon .Members of the 9^th Parliament

Parliament of the Republic of Uganda

Re: The Position of the Law relating to EALA Elections.

Hon Members, as you proceed to debate the amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Uganda, including the Rules in Appendix B thereto for Elections of Members of the East African Legislative Assembly, I found it important as an Advocate, a person interested in East African Affairs, the applicant in Application No.6 of 2011 at the East African Court of Justice and the National Legal Advisor of the Democratic Party to forward this Legal opinion to you for your perusal in that noble  process.

The current law relating to the elections aforesaid is buttressed in the sources hereunder;

1. The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. Particularly Articles 6(d), 50
2. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Articles, 13,14,15,16,17,18,27 and 42-72.
3. The Constitution of The Republic of Uganda.Particulary Art 8A, Objective XXVIII (i) b, Articles 21(1and 2), 29(1e), 89(1), and 94(1).
4. Jacob Oulanya versus The Attorney General of Uganda, Constitutional Petition No. 28 of 2006.
5. The Democratic Party and Mukasa Fred Mbidde versus The Secretary General of The East African Community and The Attorney General of Uganda Application No 6 of 2011 Arising out of Reference No.6 of 2011 PENDING.
6. It is equally important to note that The East African Legislative Assembly Bill 2011 has been passed by EALA into law awaiting assent by the Summit confirming all the above positions.

Article 50 of The Treaty provides that,

“The National Assembly of each Partner state shall Elect,

not from among its members,

9 members who shall represent as much as it is feasible,

 the various Political Parties represented in the Assembly,

Shades of opinion, gender and other

Special interest groups, in accordance with the procedure as the National Assembly of each Partner State may determine”

The meaning of the above Article of the treaty and also as fortified in the jurisprudence at the East African Court of Justice and The Constitutional Court are therefore as follows;

1. Elections take place at and by the National Assembly according to the treaty
2. Elections include contested or un-contested elections; this was fortified in the case of Prof Peter Anyang Nyong v AG and ors.
3. That the method of distribution is to be among all parties represented at the National State Assembly.
4. That the provision is rather qualitative and not quantitative and thus considers the nominal prevalence of a political party at the Partner State Assembly for eligibility to be represented at EALA AND NOT BY HOW MANY MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT A PARTY IS REPRESENTED IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
5. That any reference to Numerical strength of a political party as a standard requirement by a Political Party for representation to The East African Legislative Assembly is unlawful and infringes the treaty.
6. The East African Legislative Assembly is an organ of the Community under Article 9 of the Treaty and as such in elections therefor, the treaty applies with equal force.
7. That the Democratic Party and Anor, as the Applicants in Application and Reference No 6 of 2011 have a mandatory entitlement to a slot, being a political party represented at the National State Assembly.
8. That the Secretary General to the East African Community has already written to all Partner states including Uganda to comply as aforesaid.
9. That there is an  interim injunction over parliament emanating from the case of The Democratic Party and Anor Versus The Community and the Attorney General, already served on the Speaker and the Attorney General of Uganda which  bars the Ugandan Parliament from conducting elections until Rules are amended to suit the above requirements.
10.  That the East African Legislative Assembly Elections bill 2011 was passed by the East African Legislative Assembly and the same provides for the manner of elections representative of all parties represented at the State Assemblies .Parliament is enjoined to enact Rules of Procedure that operationalizes Article 50 and not one seeking to amend it .It’s important to note that the Ugandan Parliament has no Powers to Amend the Article 50 to the Treaty.
11. Parliament has to conclude the business of amendments of the Rules if Uganda is to have elections within the stipulated time frame which is currently at  3 months to the expiry of the current term.(1^st March remains the proper date for elections since the current term expires in June this Year)
12. That entitled Political Parties should be required to nominate their candidates that will contest for the slots accorded to them either competitively or un-contested for Parliament to Elect.
13. That the Democratic Party shall not vacate our injunction until respect for our entitlement is met.
14. That the East African Court of Justice has fixed 29^th February this year as the return date by the Applicants of the Democratic party and another versus the AG and the Community on which we shall report the outcomes of the amendments where if such amended rules are found to contradict the Treaty, and Permanent Injunction shall inevitably be slummed on to the Ugandan Parliament that no elections of EALA will take place.
15. That Independents have a mandatory Slot for EALA.
16. That there are only 6 Political Parties and 1  shade of opinion represented in the house of Parliament in Uganda namely;

(i)                The National Resistance Movement –NRM

(ii)              The Forum for Democratic Change-FDC

(iii)            The Democratic Party-DP

(iv)            The Uganda People’s Congress-UPC

(v)              The Conservative Party-CP

(vi)            The Justice Forum-JEEMA

(vii)          The Independents

The above have to vie for the 9 slots obtaining at the regional Assembly and any attempt to distribute a slot for each of the entities above remains lawful and feasible within the meaning of the Treaty and does not warrant the National Parliament to develop a formula for the same. Two slots remain available for the special interest Groups and /or any other manner of distribution preferred by the Assembly.

Independent Candidates may by gazette be notified of the campaigns and as such expression of interest thereby is done to the Clerk’s office, being the returning officer in the circumstances for such category of persons to express interest and to subsequently vie for the same.

Mukasa Fred Denis Mbidde (0752697046)

B.Mass (MUK), LLB (MUK), Dip-LP (MUK), LLM-Cand (MUK)-Advocate

Chief Legal Adviser-DP

Chief Legal Adviser.

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A Commonwealth ministerial mission is due to arrive in the Maldives capital, Malé, on 17 February to ascertain the facts surrounding the transfer of power last week in the South Asian state.

The group will be led by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Communications of Trinidad & Tobago, the Hon Surujrattan Rambachan. He will be accompanied by Hon Dr Dipu Moni, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh and Mr Dennis Richardson AO, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) decided to send the mission as soon as possible when it met by teleconference on 12 February.

Announcing the mission, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, who convened the extraordinary teleconference, said: “This is an important ministerial mission, that is to be seen as part of the Commonwealth‘s continuing engagement with Maldives. It should also be viewed in the context of the Commonwealth‘s abiding commitment to its fundamental political values.”

The delegation will hold discussions with key interlocutors on circumstances surrounding the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed on 7 February 2012. Before it commences its work, it will be briefed by the Commonwealth Secretariat team that has been in the country since 6 February.

The CMAG statement issued after the 12 February teleconference stressed the importance of adherence by member countries to the Commonwealth’s fundamental political values, including constitutional democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights; and in particular, the principle of separation of powers.

The CMAG ministerial mission will be supported by a Commonwealth Secretariat team led by Amitav Banerji, Director of Political Affairs.

CMAG will convene again in extraordinary session next week, to receive and consider the findings of the ministerial mission.

Note to Editors:

 CMAG comprises foreign ministers from nine Commonwealth countries and is tasked with dealing with serious or persistent violations of Commonwealth values and principles. The members are Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Jamaica, Maldives, Sierra Leone, United Republic of Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago and Vanuatu.

 The Group was given an enhanced mandate at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, in October 2011.

 For media enquiries, please contact Victoria Holdsworth (in Malé) on +44 789 459 3520 or on v.holdsworth@commonwealth.int. In London, please contact Manoah Esipisu on +44 789 446 2021 or m.esipisu@commonwealth.int

Cathy Price 
Administrative Assistant
Communications & Public Affairs Division

Commonwealth Secretariat • Marlborough House • Pall Mall • London SW1Y 5HX • United Kingdom
Tel:  +44 (0) 20 7747 6386    • Fax: Direct  +44 (0) 20 7004 3771  General: +44 (0) 20 7839 9081 • www.thecommonwealth.org

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The bill now awaits EAC Heads of State assent to it before it becomes law in the five East Africa Community member states of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania.

The Bill moved by Patricia Hajabakiga, Member from Rwanda aims at providing a legal framework for the preservation of a clean and healthy environment through the prohibition of manufacturing, sale, importation and use of polythene materials.

Justifying the move to have the regional law in place, Hajabakiga stated that the Bill is intended to control the use of polythenes while advocating for the total ban of plastics.

The mover notes several dangers of plastics and polythene materials notably soil degradation through burning of wastes, harmful emissions of toxics and the endangering of human and animal lives.

She further indicates that while plastics can be burned, they emit chemicals and the corresponding photo-degradation has consequential impact on human and infrastructure.
The MP says countries such as Bangladesh, Botswana, Israel, Rwanda and France among others have since enacted a similar law.

The Chairperson of the Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources Committee, Hon Safina Kwekwe whose Committee the Assembly mandated to look through the Bill, remarked that the Committee had met various stakeholders in the Partner States during the public hearings.

The meetings were called to create awareness of plastics and visit plastic manufacturers with a view to interfacing with them and suggesting for improvements on the Bill

In its report, the Committee states that Rwanda which has an existing law in place supported the Bill while requesting for inclusion of a clause on alternatives to polythene materials as well as an incentive programme.

Uganda on its part, enacted a law for the control of polythene materials in 2009 although the law is yet to be fully implemented. There are challenges with respect to disposal of such wastes owing to absence of recycling facilities, the Committee reported.

Stakeholders in Kenya were of the view that while polythenes are an environmental menace, a balance needs to be struck between eradicating them on the one side and the promotion and protection of investments on the other.  Generally, the stakeholders in Kenya suggested adjustment to specifications of polythene materials other than total ban and the introduction of a levy to allow the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to manage the waste.

The United Republic of Tanzania generally supports the Bill on the understanding that only plastic bags should be banned and not all polythene materials. The same is the case with the Republic of Burundi. In Zanzibar, the report notes – issues concerning the environment are non-union and in 2008, the isle took the initiative to ban the use of plastics with a three year transitional period provided for in the law, expiring last year.

Stakeholders during public hearings however raised counter arguments including loss of income, jobs and reduced revenue affecting the economies. The issue of measuring of the microns, the House was told, is expensive even though it was suggested that balancing of revenues earned by governments compared to the very act of checking the environment should be taken into consideration.

During debate, majority of Members rose in support of the Bill.   Hon Emerence Bucumi hailed the Assembly’s decision to protect the environment noting that the region should emulate Rwanda’s example.  “We must protect the environment and share common interests in our desire to ensure a healthy environment, Hon Bucumi said.  Hon Christophe Bazivamo remarked that plastic bags were not only a menace to the environment but also harmed livestock as well.  Other Members in support were Hon. Dr. George Nangale and Hon Margaret Zziwa.

The Minister for EAC Hon Peter Munya reiterated the support of the Council of Ministers to the Bill.  “Polythene waste is a major hindrance in urban and rural areas and attempts to ensure solid waste management is thus essential and welcome.  The envisaged law in the Council’s view, shall control pollution and save both flora and fauna, he said.  Further attempts to ban the plastics in the region have not been entirely successful in the Partner States save for Rwanda and it is now time to collectively act”, Hon Munya said.

The Minister also presented mind boggling statistics of the use of plastic bags noting that the continent was most affected.

Amendments that sailed through during the debate include a change in title with the replacement of the word polythene with plastic to read “The East African Community Plastic Control Bill”.  This, Members agree has a wider scope and is consequential.

The Bill shall now go through the succeeding stages of assent with the Speaker of the Assembly expected to submit the amended /Assent copies to the Heads of State for assent.  Should it be assented (signed) to by the five Heads of State, then it shall become law.  In event that one or some (or all) Heads of State do not assent to the Bill then it shall be returned to the Assembly.

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Addressing Members of the East African Legislative Assembly at their fifth meeting in Kampala, the Uganda President warned that economic integration alone can create disequilibrium with countries not reaping equal benefits.

He told the legislators  that to consolidate integration there should be political integration as well saying a common market alone can create injustice by making some partner states markets for the others

President Museveni who hailed the reassembling of the East African Community in 1993 noted that the community cannot be complete without South Sudan and Congo.

“The East African region was a trading area long before the British colonialists. By reviving the community we are fulfilling our historical trade links”, he told MPs.

The Ugandan President confirmed that Uganda had tremendously benefitted from reintegration with export earnings shooting from 282 million dollars to 8 billion dollars.

Rt.Hon. Kadaga Rebecca the Speaker of the Uganda Parliament in her address noted the need to operationalize articles in the treaty for the establishment of the East African Community to enable the region attain political federation.

She hailed the East African Parliament for establishing itself as a strong effective regional legislature.

Kenyan President H.E.Mwai Kibaki is scheduled to address the East African Assembly at the Uganda Parliament Chambers Wednesday morning.

By Isaac Senabulya

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The MDGs that are set to be achieved through the campaign include strengthening of gender equitable national health sector action plans, ensuring health plans, reducing maternal deaths in women and children among others.

Nabagereka says the increase in maternal deaths in Uganda is due to the high corruption, the weakness in implementing decisions made, the absence of health facilities and poverty as well as unemployment which facilitates men to think in terms of producing.

The Nabagereka has urged the speaker of Parliament Rt.Hon. Rebecca Kadaga to continue advocating the girl child education, fight corruption as some of the ways in which the high levels of maternal and child mortality will be arrested.

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