"The strategy of the guerilla struggle was to cause maximum chaos and destruction in order to render the government of the day very unpopular"

Lt. Gen. Kaguta Museveni (Leader of the NRA guerilla army in Luwero)



----- Original Message ----- 
From: gook makanga 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2004 9:56 PM
Subject: DP defeats govt in Supreme Court 



DP defeats govt in Supreme Court 
By Halima Abdallah 
Jan 30, 2004

      Act amending Constitution in 2000 nullified

      KAMPALA - The Democratic Party yesterday scored another victory against government when the Supreme Court nullified the Act that amended some articles of the Constitution.

      In 2000, the DP challenged the manner in which Parliament amended the Constitution without following the right procedures. 

      Parliament passed the Constitutional (Amendment) Act 13 of 2000 in a day and the President assented to it the same day.

      The Constitution requires that an Act be passed in not less than 14 days after presentation of the Bill to Parliament.

      Parliament made the hasty amendment after the Constitutional Court nullified the Referendum Act of 1999.

      The amendment empowered Parliament to make another Referendum law that validated the referendum, which had been conducted in June 2000.

      The DP leader, Mr Paul Ssemogerere, and his colleague Zachary Olum had challenged the Referendum Act in the Constitutional Court, saying Parliament passed it without a quorum.

      The DP petitioned the Constitutional Court to nullify the Constitution Amendment Act, saying it was illegally passed. 

      The petitioners also contended that the Act amended articles 88, 89, 90,97 257 and 257A which also indirectly caused the amendment of other articles of the Constitution. Government argued that Parliament had followed the right procedures in passing the Act and that the amendment of the said articles did not have an effect of amending other provisions of the Constitution. 

      Three judges of the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of government and said that Parliament was right to apply its rules in amending the Constitution. They also ruled that they had no jurisdiction to interpret one article of the Constitution against another. Two judges ruled in favour of the petitioners. The petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court.

      The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the amendment of these articles was an infringement of fundamental human rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

      The seven judges of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki unanimously ruled that the amendment was unconstitutional and the Constitutional Court had powers to interpret any article of the Constitution against the other. 

      "The approach they adopted is almost tantamount to taking a maiden voyage into the mystery of interpretation," Justice George W. Kanyeihamba ruled in the Supreme Court lead judgement yesterday.

      Court also ruled that the Constitutional Court is under duty to interpret and make declarations.

      "In denying that they had jurisdiction to make a declaration on this petition, the learned majority justices of the Constitutional Court abdicated their function of that court," Kanyeihamba ruled. 

      On the constitutionality of the Constitutional Amendment Act, the court ruled that the rules were not followed.

      "The Bill cannot be assented to by the President unless it is accompanied by a certificate of compliance from the Speaker," court said. 

      The court ruled that the presidential assent was invalid and the Act did not become a law.

      "The respondent [the State] failed to prove that the Constitution was complied with. The amendment failed to become an Act of Parliament and consequently cannot be regarded as part of the Constitution," the Supreme Court declared. 

      The Supreme Court also criticised the Constitutional Court for failing to decide on the voting procedure in Parliament as raised by the petitioners.

      The petitioners had asked court to declare the voice voting of 'ayes' and 'nays' unconstitutional and is bound to be violated further because it cannot be subjected to strict scrutiny. 

      The judges further ruled that the required majority of two thirds in Parliament in passing a Bill couldn't be ascertained by voice voting.

      "The voting in Parliament should be by head count of members in favour of and against the amendment," the judgment read.

      The court also ruled that it is the strict observance of the rules of procedure that will create and nurture a culture of belief in Ugandans that they are truly democratically represented and governed.
     


© 2004 The Monitor Publications





Gook 

"The strategy of the guerilla struggle was to cause maximum chaos and destruction in order to render the government of the day very unpopular"
Lt. Gen. Kaguta Museveni (Leader of the NRA guerilla army in Luwero)

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