Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Maj. Gen. Kahinda Ottafire asked the Parliament to give the Cabinet two weeks to refine the Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2017 after it received stiff resistance. “Are you aware that the government owes Ugandans billions and billions of shillings?” Said, Abdul Katuntu – MP Bugweri County. the Uganda Law Society asked the Cabinet to totally withdraw the Bill because it was not necessary since there were adequate laws to tackle the land problem the government sought to appeal. “I appeal to the government to completely withdraw this Bill, it is unnecessary and because there are many options in which the government can deal with the issues it proposes to do.” Said, Francis Gimara – President Uganda Law Society. The controversial Bill sought to amend Article 26 of the Constitution to allow the government take possession of private land for public works by depositing the contested sum for compensation in the Court as the works went on awaiting the resolution of the dispute. Last week when the Deputy Attorney General Mwesigwa Rukutana, Lands Minister Betty Amongi, and other senior government officials appeared before the Legal and Parliamentary Committee that was considering the Bill, they received a lot of resistance from the MPs.

The Uganda Law Society agreed that public projects and investments should not be delayed due to compensation fights but they said the government was jumping the gun. “The Constitution has already provided for this power with sufficient clarity under Article 26 but we also note that that same Constitution provides that a detailed law will be brought to effect compensation in such instances.” Said the President Uganda Law Society. The Lawyers urged the government to instead amend the Land Acquisition Act to address the challenges in executing public projects and investments on land including setting a timeframe to resolve compensation disputes. “The current Land Acquisition Act is, of course, an old law, but it does not stop the government from using it as we’ve said under regulations to quicken the dispute but as they use it to resolve the issues, they should be thinking in medium term about bringing back that Bill.” Said the President Uganda Law Society.

The Law Society also raised a number of other concerns in the Constitutional Amendment Bill. Depositing money in the Courts of Law didn’t mean compensation because the Courts could only receive the money after adjusting and making a finding on the land dispute that the compensation was fair and adequate. The fact that property would compulsorily be taken from the owner when he or she rejects the compensation deprived one’s access to the Court to protect their right. An amendment that gave the government power at the expense of the people was a complete distortion of what the Bill of rights provided for.

“Going to, there is a high probability that the Bill will be challenged and in fact will be declared unconstitutional by the Court. There is a very high probability and as well as we have looked at it, it has very grave problems.” Said the President Uganda Law Society. In the long-term, the Law Society believed that the justification the government had raised in the Bill was weak and urged the government to consult widely next time before coming up with a Bill of that nature. “We want to appeal to the government that matters of the Constitutional Amendment must be well thought out, must have adequate public participation and they must go through a process that is acceptable to at least a majority of stakeholders.” Said the President Uganda Law Society.