7 QUESTIONS: ‘Museveni can give us a big gift by retiring’

Mr Karuhanga says the best gift President Museveni can offer to Ugandans is retire in 2016. 

By Gerald Karuhanga

In Summary

Drafting new law. Mr Gerald Karuhanga, the Western Youth MP, has sought leave of Parliament to draft a Bill, which seeks to reinstate presidential term limits. The term limits were expunged from the Constitution in 2005, enabling President Museveni, whose last term would have expired in 2006, to contest again. Don Wanyama sounded out the MP on what this Bill is all about.

1. What explains the timing of this Bill? It is barely a decade since Parliament voted to repeal Article 105 (b) of the Constitution. Should we not let this matter rest?
When MPs changed that clause in 2005, they never consulted the population. It is true they took Shs5m each for consultation but that never happened. Yet Ugandans had overwhelmingly backed the term limits during the gathering of views on what to include in the Constitution. This is why the Constitutional Assembly fully backed the clause. What happened in 2005 was a constitutional purchase. We want the people’s will restored. To safeguard against any future mutilations of this particular clause, we shall recommend that you will need four fifths (about 80 per cent) to amend this particular section of the Constitution.

2. What exactly do you find revolting about absence of term limits in the Constitution?
The point here largely is about the excesses of incumbency and unchecked authority. When people rule minus a timeline, they get corrupted by power but also it makes it harder for other players to get power.


Incumbency means one has unlimited control over State resources, controls the Electoral Commission, media, Judiciary, military, the police, name it. To dislodge such a person from power even when the people wish it becomes a dream. Term limits, therefore, create checks and balances. It reduces the possibility of a strong one-man rule emerging. It also strengthens State structures since people know that a leader will come and go. Just imagine how efficient our EC or police would be if they knew Museveni’s regime would end in 2016. They would cease to owe him personal loyalty.

Then we have the question of our history. Uganda, unlike Kenya and say Tanzania, has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of power from one president to another. It was this history that informed the CA to institute that clause in the Constitution. We can’t continue living in a state of uncertainty about tomorrow. This uncertainty has actually driven some Ugandans to invest in Kenya and South Africa. They don’t know how and when President Museveni will leave power. Restoring term limits is a restoration of hope. People are resigned. The apathy is high. Politics has ceased to impress. It all has to do with this uncertainty of tomorrow. We can’t continue like this. Our people need to be reassured.

3. In your Bill, what will be the place of President Museveni? Will he be eligible to run in case Parliament adopts your two-term proposals?
We do not intend to bar President Museveni from running in 2016 if he chooses to. However, I see the possibility of a constitutional petition arising, asking whether a leader who is president because term limits were removed should benefit when they are restored. The courts might be prodded on this. On a personal note, however, I would implore President Museveni to give Ugandans a gift in 2016 and retire. It is the only way he can thank Ugandans for tolerating him for 30 years.

4. There is the matter of the tyranny of numbers. You are an Independent and even if the entire Opposition backed you, the NRM remains numerically superior in the House. You think you can marshal bi-partisan support?
I am the mover but among the seconders of the Bill are MPs Monica Amoding and Kisos Chemaswet, very level-headed NRM lawmakers. This Bill will have a bi-partisan backing, I am very sure. I pray that my colleagues from NRM will realise this is about posterity, about their children and grandchildren. It is about bequeathing subsequent generations a secure and more democratic Uganda. Also, several studies and polls in the recent past have shown that majority Ugandans back the restoration of presidential term limits. An Afrobarometer poll showed that about 87 per cent of Ugandans were supportive of term limits. This is a national cause.

5. What do you make of the view that rather than push for term limits, you should make a case for electoral reforms? For example, should you not be asking for a re-composition of the Electoral Commission?
I respect the need for electoral reforms; I actually think the country needs that debate too. But you will realise that part of our problem as a society is much talk but little action. People must also know that the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. That is what we are doing - starting from somewhere. The challenge should now be to my colleagues to come up with proposed amendments to the electoral laws, they can be sure of my 101 per cent support. But we must begin from somewhere.

6. Then comes the question about your credibility. Over a year ago, you hinted on moving this Bill, but nothing came to pass. Why should we trust you - let alone considering that you tabled fake papers accusing ministers of taking oil bribes?
First, I am not moving the Bill alone. Like I told you, two credible NRM legislators are movers too. Then you have MPs; Sam Otada, Alice Alaso and Hussein Kyanjo as the other movers. About my commitment, I made it public that I am seeking leave to draft the Bill, it will soon be on the Order Paper. The Speaker is in the know - she gave me the green light. About oil, I am happy that a year later, I have been vindicated. When I tabled the documents, I was asking that the allegations therein be investigated. Now see what has happened since the matter came up in a London court.

We now know that some people could actually have solicited a $50m bribe from the oil companies. President Museveni, whom the reports indicate was a possible target of the bribe, has asked the police to investigate these claims. But when I tabled the documents, he said he had done a thorough investigation and found them wanting. Why is he now instituting an investigation? Did he lie to the country then? The wheel has come full circle. He is doing what I asked him to do.\


 

7. MPs are expected to act in the interest of their electorate. Can you confirm that this clamour for restoration of term limits has the backing of youth of western Uganda or are you a front of external forces?
This drive is as personal as it is national. When the Constitution was mutilated in 2005, I was a student at Makerere University. I watched on TV as some MPs sold their souls for a few pieces of silver. I prayed then that if I got to Parliament, I would help redeem that wrong committed then. Secondly, together with like-minded MPs and the civil society, we have done a national drive to seek the public’s views on this matter. The response is overwhelming. From Kibaale to Mbale, from Adjumani to Kalangala - people say they want presidential term limits back. People ask why they were never consulted in 2005 before the decision was taken. In fact, if we took the referendum route on this matter, we shall carry the day overwhelmingly.

About being a front of external forces, that is laughable. It is a diversionary tactic this regime uses whenever they are cornered. It is an old, tired excuse. What does a foreign country benefit in Uganda having term limits? Luckily, Ugandans are not naïve, they can read between the lines