Ssempebwa CRC report was 'stolen'
By Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda
September 13, 2003
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KAMPALA - A draft report of the Constitutional Review Commission was 'stolen' and prematurely leaked to the Movement Secretariat and the Cabinet. Information available to The Monitor indicates that the draft report was prematurely leaked by an over-enthusiastic pro-Movement commissioner. On reading the leaked draft report, President Museveni and the Cabinet were reportedly unhappy with some of the recommendations. Sources say that the contents leaked to the Cabinet - allegedly by Commissioner Festus Byarugaba - caused uneasiness and tension between members of the CRC and the government. As a result, the sources said, the National Political Commissar Dr Crispus Kiyonga told a news conference at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel on August 22, that the Cabinet would reject any recommendations by the CRC which it deemed inconsistent with its own findings. The Cabinet instituted a sub committee chaired by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Hajat Janat Mukwaya to draft its own proposed amendments to the Constitution. The resultant political scandal from the stolen Ssempebwa report has generated a lot of anger. Senior Movement leaders who are opposed to amending Article 105 (2) of the Constitution to enable President Yoweri Museveni run for another term in 2006 met at Parliament on Wednesday evening to discuss this latest development. Article 105 (2) of the Constitution limits the tenure of the president to two five-year terms. It is not clear which particular recommendations angered the Cabinet, but insider sources say that the Commission has formed a strong opinion against the third term. On realising that its draft recommendations had been 'stolen' and prematurely leaked to the government, the CRC reportedly reacted by stopping the Cabinet team - led by Ms Mukwaya - from meeting them and submitting their rather late proposals. They reasoned that since the CRC would have to hand over its final report to Mukwaya, it was not proper for her to be part of the Cabinet team sent to meet the Commission. The Cabinet team will now be led by the Vice President Prof. Gilbert Bukenya. Ssempebwa's view The CRC chairman, Prof. Fredrick Ssempebwa, confirmed to The Monitor on Thursday that the Commission had indeed started compiling the report by the time Kiyonga made his remarks about rejecting any disagreeable recommendations. Ssempebwa said that the drafting process is ongoing despite the Cabinet's desire to submit its own views. He said that the compilation had only stalled due to financial constraints, since no money would be released at the time. Parliament was considering a new budget then. Prof. Ssempebwa has now formally asked the Cabinet to extend the Commission's life by at least one more month to make up for the lost time. The Commission was expected to wind up next month but the report is now expected at the end of November. According to Mukwaya, the views of the executive were to be submitted last week. However, Bukenya has been away in China and North Korea. This will delay the process. Prof. Ssempebwa now expects the Bukenya team to meet the CRC by end of this month. Kiyonga insists Kiyonga told The Monitor on Thursday evening that he did not convene the conference to talk about the Ssempebwa Commission. He said that he only talked about the Commission when reporters asked him to comment about an earlier Monitor story published on August 21, which said the Cabinet had approved federo and the third term. He said that it is unlikely that the Cabinet would reject the whole report, adding that Ssempebwa and the other commissioners are credible people. Kiyonga said that in a situation of conflicting views, the Cabinet would sustain and defend its position in Parliament at the time of amending the Constitution. Kiyonga also dismissed reports that another member of the Ssempebwa Commission, Ms Zam Zam Nagujja, had attended a working Cabinet meeting. The meetings were reportedly conducted by former Prime Minister and now presidential adviser Mr Kintu Musoke at his residence. Kiyonga defended Nagujja, a director at the Movement Secretariat, saying that the Cabinet doesn't operate like that. Anti third MPs Meanwhile, the anti-third term Movement politicians ('Malwa Group') meeting at Parliament on Wednesday evening expressed disappointment that the Cabinet was manipulating and rigging the Constitutional amending process. Former Inspector General of Government Mr Augustine Ruzindana, one of its leaders, told The Monitor yesterday that like many concerned Ugandans, the group had discussed Cabinet's decision to appear before its own Commission. "It is procedurally an absurdity," Ruzindana said. He said that the so-called 'Malwa Group' is not an organisation but a collection of leaders who support a tendency. He said that the Movement's original intention was never to create a 'life president'. He advised the Ssempebwa Commission to attach the Cabinet's views to the main report as additional terms of reference or instructions from the executive. He said that the Cabinet's decision to submit views is intended to pressure the Commission since it is President Yoweri Museveni who has been chairing the meetings. "It is an unusual practice and in any case the Commission had stopped receiving memoranda," he said. He said that Parliament had also been persuaded to submit views but it refused because it is expected to debate the final report. "This also should apply to Cabinet," Ruzindana said. He however said that he has confidence in the Commission and hoped that the CRC's final report would truly reflect the people's views. |
© 2003 The Monitor Publications
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