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.

The post DP petitions parliament over election of East African Legislative Members first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

A source in the accounts section of parliament told our news desk that Brenda, Mwiru and many other MPs are aware that the money have reached their respective bank accounts but they are under instructions not to reveal it to the members of the public.

The same source also told us that by the end of this week all MPs will have received their facilitation for facilitating them acquire vehicles. Each MP has received 103 million shillings for the purchase of vehicles.

The vehicles are to help MPs reach in their constituencies. The MPs who were in previous Parliaments would be the last ones to receive the money. Sections in FDC and DP have supported their MPs to receive money to buy posh vehicles when most families in the country hardly receive super.

The post MPs Paul Mwiru of FDC and Brenda Nabukenya of DP receive ush212m from Uganda government first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

We have been told that Yawe using his brother Bobi Wine as an assurance that he would pay got the machines he is currently using in his studio on loan which he has failed to clear up to day.

Yawe got the loan four years back. A source in Bobi Wine’s Firebase crew has told our news desk that Yawe got the machines from a Ugandan businessman based in US pledging that he will settle the debt within one year. But now it is four years down the road.

We hear that the businessman has already reported the matter to the police in US such that it connects with their counterparts in Uganda to see how they can open up charges against Yawe and perhaps Bobi Wine because he was the guarantor.

The post How Bobi Wine’s family got dream studio first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

A source in the finance ministry tells our news desk that 4 billion shillings have been put aside to do the work.

The former workers of the NRM secretariat have been complaining that the government had failed to p[ay their terminal benefits and arrears amounting to Five billion shillings.

A highly placed source in the finance ministry has told this journalist that the staff of the defunct NRM secretariat spread throughout the country is to receive the benefits in December this year.

Some of the former staff members to be paid according on the list are Kirunda Kivejinja, Zam Nalugya, Ofwono Opondo, Ikuya Magode, and Henry Matsiko among others.

The post Government to pay staff of defunct NRM secretariat first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

 Sources have told our informers that the dime went missing last week and the police have started probing the disappearance of this huge some of money. An informer with Uganda Police has told our news desk that they are probing the signatories of Makerere Guild account in Stanbic Bank.

 The current signatories on Makerere Guild account are Guild President Onekalit Dennis Amare, Dean of students, Cyriaco Kabagambe, and Guild Finance Minister, Isaac Lakuna. The police according to the detectives are to question the university’s chancellor, Prof. Venancious Baryamureeba and the stanbic bank workersMakerereUniversitybranch. More details are to follow

By Christine Kate

The post 34 million shillings goes missing on Makerere Guild account first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Shocking details have emerged on how Producer Eddie Yawe, a brother to Ghetto president, Bobi Wine got his dream studios.

We have been told that Yawe using his brother Bobi Wine as an assurance that he would pay got the machines he is currently using in his studio on loan which he has failed to clear up to day.

Yawe got the loan four years back. A source in Bobi Wine’s Firebase crew has told our news desk that Yawe got the machines from a Ugandan businessman based in US pledging that he will settle the debt within one year. But now it is four years down the road.

We hear that the businessman has already reported the matter to the police in US such that it connects with their counterparts in Uganda to see how they can open up charges against Yawe and perhaps Bobi Wine because he was the guarantor.

Ultimate Media

The post How Bobi Wine’s family got dream studio first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

And in a bid to legalise their love, Kasozi yesterday stormed Jamila’s parents’ home in Kabowa to make their love official. Kasozi was escorted by almost DP and FDC’s top leaders, artists’ friends and relatives.

Our news desk only wish Kasozi and Naluyange a fruitful love and pray that let it be only death to separate the two apart.

 By Christine Kate

The post Forum for Democratic Change’s (FDC) Sheikh Ibrahim Kasozi finally introduces Jamila first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

We have heard that Kakande is being lured to join the faith by the UMSC spokesman Hajji Nsereko Mutumba. A source says that Kakande would be given whatever he will demand if he coverts to Islam and maintains the faith.

The Muslims also want him to expose the origin of the powers born again pastors use to heal the sick, make the deaf ear, blind see, and demands to leave the oppressed.

Recently, Kakande’s son, Ken Kakande also joined islam and he immediately changed his name from Ken Kakande to Abubakar Kakande. We are yet to establish whether prophet Kakande will accept to join Islam.

 Ultimate Media

The post Muslims persuade pastor Kakande to join Islam first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Sources have told our informers that the dime went missing last week and the police have started probing the disappearance of this huge some of money. An informer with Uganda Police has told our news desk that they are probing the signatories of Makerere Guild account in Stanbic Bank.

The current signatories on Makerere Guild account are Guild President Onekalit Dennis Amare, Dean of students, Cyriaco Kabagambe, and Guild Finance Minister, Isaac Lakuna.

The police according to the detectives are to question the university’s chancellor, Prof. Venancious Baryamureeba and the stanbic bank workers Makerere University branch. More details are to follow

Ultimate Media

The post 34 million shillings goes missing on Makerere Guild account first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.

Many people have called us saying that homosexuals sometime hang in top Kampala night clubs and target to woo single males going who are looking to have fun in these clubs. One of the bitter callers said, “Please you journalists help us, some men want to turn their sexual libido on us.”

The caller said that recently he was at one of the top night clubs in Kampala and a man suddenly bumped on him. This caller who identified himself as Joseph Lukyamuzi said he was forced to ask what his problems was, the man asked him (Lukyamuzi) to meet him in private. Lukyamuzi at first thought it was a deal only to be told that he looked so ‘beautiful’ to this stranger.

So young men, beware what that guys calls you, what he will tell you might nit be usual guys talk.

By Doreen Nyanzi

The post Homosexuals conning males in Kampala clubs first appeared on Uganda Multimedia News & Information.