Mr. Opoka, Mulindwa,
Read and understand the reason behind 1966 Mengo crisis.
Mr. Opoka, as a reasonable man, what was the cause? In Luganda we have a saying " enkima tesala gwa kibira"= a monkey does not judge in the case involving a forest" I just want to test your judgement.
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1958-2004: Mayanja saw it all
Former NRM minister HAJJI ABUBAKAR KAKYAMA MAYANJA has lived through Uganda’s major constitutional experiments: from 1961 when he was Buganda minister for education as Ugandans gathered in London (Lancaster House) to make the first independence constitution, to the 1994 Constituent Assembly. Now in private legal practice, Mayanja relives the constitutions and reckons that we are about to see a new constitution. He spoke to RICHARD M. KAVUMA:-
In 1958 the governor set up a committee on self-governance under J.V. Wild, which recommended that all members of the Legislative Council (LEGCO) should be elected on a common roll. Until then, the governor used to nominate representatives of Europeans and Asians.
CA Delegates James Wapakhabulo (RIP ) CA chairman (left), NRM vice chairman Hajj Moses Kigongo (centre) and minister John Nasasira at the International Conference Centre in 1994.
Registration of voters commenced in 1960 and constituencies were demarcated for the first time in Uganda.
But the Lukiiko warned all Baganda to stay away from the registration exercise. It insisted Buganda would only participate in the exercise after its concerns were addressed: federo for Buganda; clarification of the position of the Kabaka in independent Uganda; and guarantees against an East African federation, among others.
Buganda’s opposition to such a federation was based on the fear that a white minority in Kenya would rule indigenous Africans. But we (Buganda government) went to the governor and continued negotiations.
In the end, only 3 percent of the eligible voters in Buganda were registered. Elections went ahead nevertheless, won by the Democratic Party. Some constituencies had as few as 200 people; it was ridiculous.
The colonial secretary appointed a commission under Lord Munster to chart the way forward for Uganda and Buganda, and it was from its report that the Lancaster Conference emerged.
It had representatives from the Uganda government (under Ben Kiwanuka as chief minister), the opposition under [Apollo Milton] Obote, the Kabaka and other traditional leaders and their governments, and each of the districts of Uganda (such as West Nile, Acholi, Lango, Bukedi, Teso, Busoga, Ankole, Toro, Kigezi).
At Lancaster, it was agreed that there should be a largely elected Lukiiko in Buganda, with 68 directly elected members, 20 Ssaza chiefs, six Kabaka nominees, and Kabaka’s ministers. A Lukiiko so constituted would then decide whether Buganda’s 21 LEGCO members would be directly elected by the people or whether the Lukiiko should constitute itself into an electoral college and elect them.
Hajj Abubaker Kakyama Mayanja
But Kiwanuka rejected this position. You see, DP had defied the Lukiiko and urged people in Buganda to register. So if the Lukiiko were to elect MPs, DP would certainly lose out. But Obote accepted this position on behalf of UPC.
It was hence agreed that Buganda should be in a federal relationship with the central government. The other kingdoms like Bunyoro, Toro were to be in semi-federal relationship with the centre, while the remaining districts would be in unitary relationship with the centre.
Now, when you look back, representatives of these districts did not want federo because they thought that they were too backward and they did not have the financial muscle, and that they would be better off if they depended on handouts from the central government.
But it would have been better if they had found a financial formula to make it work. This was because each district was ruled on vertical links between the district and the Centre at Entebbe, without any horizontal linkages between district A and district B. The arrangement for that kind of structure is federal.
But if you get a constitution where the government intervenes at will in the affairs of the local government as it is today, where the president, for instance, interferes with boda boda tax in Kampala or the RDC intervenes in the levying of market dues from a woman selling tomatoes, this does not encourage development of a sound administration system.
The notion that the people of Uganda are the same and that somebody at Entebbe or in Nakasero knows what should be done in West Nile, Kapchorwa and elsewhere is not correct. There are differences and people should not be put in one straightjacket.
And I think that today if we are going to have a federal system, it should be based on the original-independence district. One problem we have in the ongoing negotiations between Buganda and the centre is that government insists that the districts should continue to report to the centre even after creation of the regional tier.
The government must agree that when the tier has been created, the districts shall be responsible to the tier government, which shall be responsible to the centre.
I remained in the Kabaka’s government as minister of education until 1964, when I resigned, after the speaker – I think it was Eriasafi Kalule – insulted me. He said something like, “you boy, sit down” (probably because I was young, unmarried, etc.).
Later on in the year, I was elected by the Lukiiko as MP, replacing Jimmy Simpson, who resigned as representative of Kyaggwe North East.
1966 Constitution
One of the causes of the 1966 crisis has nothing to do with the Lukiiko. Obote had been outmaneuvered by [Grace] Ibingira. Ibingira was controlling UPC executives in Buganda, Western and Eastern. The only region supporting Obote was the North.
If we had gone for a UPC delegates’ conference, we would have voted Obote out of the presidency of UPC and he would automatically ceased to be the prime minister.
But he forestalled this by arresting Ibingira, Magezi, Ngobi, and Kirya, declaring a state of emergency and replacing the 1962 Constitution with the pigeonhole Constitution of 1966.
No debate. Parliament was called, it was surrounded by the army – actually, on my way to Parliament, I was slapped by a Special Forces man around Nakivubo Place.
Then Obote made a long statement and told us to find our copies of the Constitution in the pigeonholes. Then they said that you would only be a Member of Parliament if you swore an oath under the new Constitution.
I took the oath. Those who did not ceased to be MPs.
1967 Constitution
The purpose of the Constitution was to give the president more powers. Kingdoms were banned; Buganda’s 9,000 square miles of land were taken.
I spoke out strongly and even published a critique of the Constitution in Transition. The key issues were the abolition of the monarchy, which was not justified; the president was not to be elected directly; and the president also had too much more power than before.
There was a bill that allowed Parliament to constitute itself into a Constituent Assembly and consider the Constitution, so it was published and passed.
During that time, Buganda was under emergency since February 2, 1966, when Obote arrested five ministers. Obote particularly did not like me because I was very critical and I could dig up anything. They would ambush Parliament with a bill, suspend standing orders so that it is read the first, second and third reading on that day. But I would see through it and tear it to pieces.
In 1968, Obote imprisoned me under emergency detention powers. I had been acquitted of a charge of publishing a seditious article in Transition, but was re-arrested under emergency powers. I spent another two years in prison until I was released by Obote, shortly before he was overthrown.
Now, if you look at 1967 and today’s (2004/2005) constitutional amendment exercise, one parallel is an insatiable greed for power. It appears that the president [Mr. Yoweri Museveni] wants to – I mean he has got powers to appoint all these people, permanent secretaries, judges, ministers, what?… and now he wants to take over powers of Parliament.
Then you have another one that says that if a referendum is held, its results will be binding on any authority, including courts. In other words, you can reverse decisions of a court declaring an act of Parliament illegal by means of a referendum? And you know no government loses a referendum!
What is happening is not actually a constitutional review; it is a remaking of the constitution.
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