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OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA H.E. YOWERI TIBUHABURWA KAGUTA MUSEVENI

17th January, 2025. 

Your Excellency, Ref: What Exactly Are You Celebrating on Liberation Day? 

As the NRM prepares to don its celebratory regalia for Liberation Day on January 26th, I write to question whether there is anything to celebrate. Liberation, in its truest sense, is the dismantling of tyranny and the establishment of justice, freedom, and equality. Yet, under your stewardship, these principles appear to have been replaced by a mockery of the very ideals you once championed.

In 1986, you proclaimed an era of justice, freedom, and respect for human dignity. Today, however, Uganda is witnessing the erosion of these values at the hands of military tribunals that brazenly try civilians, in violation of our Constitution and international norms. Tell me, Mr. President, is this the liberation you fought for, or have you become the very thing you once opposed?

As the leader who ushered in Uganda’s 1995 Constitution, you are well aware of the intentions of its framers. Those debates in the Constituent Assembly were not abstract intellectual exercises; they were heartfelt deliberations about the kind of Uganda we wanted; a nation where justice and fairness prevail. You, Mr. President, stood as a beacon of those ideals.

The framers were explicit: military courts were created to enforce discipline within the ranks of the armed forces and nothing more. They intended for these courts to operate under the supervision of civilian courts to ensure accountability, independence, and justice. Prof. Kanyeihamba, among others, passionately argued that military courts must remain subordinate to the High Court and that their jurisdiction must never extend to civilians.

Do you remember when the Chairperson of the Constituent Assembly unequivocally stated that there was no need to specifically mention court martial under Article 129(1)(d) because they were naturally subordinate to the High Court? Are these not your words and the words of those you trusted to shape our nation? You cannot claim ignorance, Mr. President. The debates, the intentions, and the provisions of the Constitution are all crystal clear. Yet, today, your government has twisted this clarity into a murky realm of military dominance over civilian lives.

How convenient it must be, Mr. President, to forget the debates that birthed Article 129(1)(d) of our Constitution. How expedient it is to overlook the framers’ clear intention that military courts remain subordinate to civilian oversight. Are you aware, Sir, that Botswana’s Constitution, under Article 95(5), empowers its High Court to supervise military courts, ensuring that justice within the military remains accountable and aligned with civilian judicial standards? Or that Lesotho’s Constitution, under Article 119(1), not only subjects military courts to judicial oversight but also restricts their jurisdiction exclusively to military personnel?

These are nations with functioning militaries, yet they understand that trying civilians in military courts is an affront to human rights and judicial independence. How ironic, then, that you, a self-proclaimed champion of African governance, presume to lecture other leaders on justice and constitutionalism, while Uganda lags embarrassingly behind on this critical issue. What does Uganda gain from being an outlier, a state where the Constitution is bent to blur the lines between military and civilian justice, eroding public trust and undermining the independence of our judiciary?

Your son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s reckless and incendiary statements are a glaring affront to the dignity and unity of our nation. When a serving military officer, one poised to inherit the leadership of this country, openly threatens political opponents with beheading and hanging, it is not merely a lapse in decorum, it is a dangerous provocation that tests the resolve of Ugandans and the limits of their tolerance. These statements, far from being inconsequential, appear to be deliberate probes to measure the complacency of a nation. General Muhoozi must be reminded that Uganda does not belong to him or his father; it belongs to all of us, the citizens who bear its weight and cherish its future.

He must know that while he is protected by the privilege of power, there flows the same blood through his veins as every Ugandan. This country’s peace has been hard-earned, and it takes only a careless spark to ignite a river of blood that spares no one. Mr. President, as both a father and a leader, you bear the responsibility to discipline your son and remind him that this is not a personal kingdom. Uganda’s fate and dignity are far greater than the ambitions of one family.

Your Excellency, history will remember you, but I fear it will not be kind. The trial of civilians in military courts is not the act of a liberator but of a leader who has betrayed his own revolution. You are setting a precedent where future despots will exploit military courts to oppress Ugandans for generations. While you might bask in short-term control, this legacy of injustice will haunt your name long after you are gone.

Mr. President, what exactly will you celebrate on January 26th? Will you boast about a justice system that tries civilians in kangaroo courts? Will you celebrate a military tribunal that lacks the independence and impartiality required to uphold justice? Will you take pride in eroding the Constitution you swore to protect? Your Excellency, look beyond your time in power. The seeds of injustice you sow today will grow into trees of oppression that will cast a shadow over Uganda for decades. Future generations will not thank you for leaving behind a system where military courts are weaponized against civilians. They will curse your name for allowing such an affront to justice to thrive.

To the soldiers and judges who enforce these directives, I ask you to pause and reflect, not on the commands of today, but on the legacy, you are crafting for tomorrow. Decades from now, when Uganda’s history is recounted, what will your name symbolize? Will it stand for justice, integrity, and courage, or will it be a reminder of complicity and blind obedience in the face of oppression?

Think of your children, your relatives, and the generations yet unborn. What Uganda are you building for them? Will it be a nation where fairness and human rights reign supreme, or one where fear, arbitrariness, and a broken judiciary define our identity? You are the custodians of justice, yet you’ve allowed yourselves to become instruments of injustice. How insensitive you have become in upholding what you know is wrong. Can you truly find pride in enforcing a system that treats civilians as enemies and uses the military as a weapon against the very people it was sworn to protect?

History will not absolve those who turned a blind eye to the erosion of justice. It will not forgive those who allowed the principles of fairness and decency to be trampled underfoot. But there is still time to step back, to uphold the Constitution you swore to protect, and to do what is right, not just for today but for the future Uganda that we all hope to see.

The choice is yours. Posterity is watching. Will your actions be remembered as a beacon of justice, or as a cautionary tale of betrayal? Uganda deserves better. Its people deserve better. And history demands that you do better.

For the Uganda We Deserve,

EJIKU Justine.

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