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Uganda Peoples Congress

UGANDA PEOPLES CONGRESS
NATIONAL SECRETARIAT
UGANDA HOUSE
P.O. Box 9206
Kampala Uganda

Press statement
(Embargoed for release at 9:30am, 1st June 2005)

UPC POSITION ON THE REFERENDUM

  1. Since 1986, Uganda Peoples Congress has been at the forefront of the struggle against NRM's relentless campaign to abrogate the inherent fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Uganda. NRM/A has been a one party dictatorship, which the Uganda Peoples Congress has opposed in the courts of law and at all other political fora. UPC challenged the Constituency Assembly Regulations of 1993, which stopped political parties from fielding its own candidates. The Courts decided that the restrictions in the Regulations were temporary.
  2. The Constituency Assembly was a partisan organ and it ended up enacting a partisan Constitution to entrench a one party state under articles 69, 70, 73 270, 269, and UPC continued to challenge and oppose these Constitutional provisions in courts of law, the press and the court of public opinion.
  3. The Constitutional provisions providing for the so called choice of political systems are a fraud because the choice is between competitive multiparty politics on one hand and dictatorship disguised as a movement system on the other, which is a one party state contrary to article 75 of the Constitution. That is why we challenged it in the courts. The choice, if at all, is between an intolerant military dictatorship (movement system) currently hounding its own founders and supporters like Brigadier Tumukunde, of the 2001 election fraud on the one hand and free political association (political parties) on the other.
  4. Even when the 2000 referendum was held in spite of the massive boycott, it was an express fraud conducted under a non-existent legal regime, as the Constitutional Court was to confirm later.
  5. In reality, the people of Uganda have never chosen or adopted the so called movement political system rather, a one party state as confirmed by the Constitutional Court was imposed on them under the 1995 Constitution and the Movement Act of 1997 and the referendum of 2000.
  6. Under articles 21 and 29 of the 1995 Constitution, the rights of Ugandans to freely associate, assemble and conduct politics under political parties of their choice are inherent and not granted by the state. They are not the results of votes of the majority but rather the very embodiment of human nature and conscience.
  7. The slated referendum on the so called political systems is a continuation of the two decade political fraud wilfully committed and perpetuated by NRM/A using force of arms and manipulation against the people of Uganda in total disregard of their fundamental rights and freedoms.
  8. Consequently, the Uganda Peoples Congress, like it has done in the past, will not surrender to this fraud and subjection of peoples' rights and freedoms to a fraudulent referendum process. We shall do all it takes to pro-actively oppose the attempt by the dictators to legitimize what they failed to achieve in 2000.
  9. Already the Uganda Peoples with its G6 partners have filed the Constitutional Petition NO.4 of 2005 to challenge the constitutionality of this referendum. We hope that the Constitutional Court will answer the cries of the people of Uganda and put a stop on this fraud.
  10. On top of this Court process, the Uganda Peoples Congress will mount a vigorous nation-wide campaign against this fraudulent and costly campaign that seeks to misuse scarce public resources for the benefit of a clique of senior ministers and officials whom we hope the Vice President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya will soon name for the benefit of the people of Uganda.

For God and My Country

Haji Badru K. Wegulo
Chairman,
Constitutional Steering Commission
June 1, 2005


Notes for Editors:

  • We actively encourage you to visit the Presidents' Corner and in particular access "Notes on Concealment of Genocide in Uganda".
  • Normal weekly press conferences/ briefings resume at the normal 11:00am from next Wednesday 8th June 2005 until further notice but, you may be invited for other briefings at any time (may be on short notice) from today.