| 26 |
In law, can citizens sue the government for infringement of their civil rights? |
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26:
In law, can citizens sue the government for infringement of their civil rights?
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
 |
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Comments:
References: Article 20 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda, (1) Basic rights and freedoms of the individual are inherent (natural) and not given by the state.
Article 20 (2) All rights and freedoms must be respected, and promoted by all organs of government and by all persons.
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| 27 |
Can the chief executive be held accountable for his/her actions? |
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27a:
In practice, the chief executive gives reasons for his/her policy decisions.
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
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| |
Comments: The executive makes commendable attempts to give reasons for his policy decisions, which he does through the party's parliamentary caucus and press briefings, which are held at the state house on a routine basis. When necessary, he has convened press conferences to explain decisions such as during the Migingo saga.
References: Media Reports (New Vision, Monitor, Weekly Observer June 2008 to August 2009)
Peer Review Comments: The chief executive and the cabinet ministers give explanations of policy, but not always in a timely or complete way.
Peer Review Comments: The chief executive often ignores the opposition.
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27b:
In law, the judiciary can review the actions of the executive.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
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Comments:
References: Article 126 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda; (1) Judicial power is derived from the people and shall be exercised by the courts established under the Constitution in the name of the people and in agreement with law, values and aspirations of the people.
Peer Review Comments: Sometimes the state can ignore the judgements passed by the judiciary, such as when it releases opposition politicians on bond; the state can refuse to free them or it can re-arrest them.
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27c:
In practice, when necessary, the judiciary reviews the actions of the executive.
|
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| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
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| |
Comments: The judiciary hasn't demonstrated a lot of ability to review actions of the executive, except in a few cases. A recent example was on July 17, 2009, when it ruled through the Constitutional Court that former Inspector General of Government Faith Mwondha's re-appointment following the expiration of her contract was subject to parliamentary approval/vetting. This was contrary to the decision by the president, who had earlier re-appointed her as Inspector General of Government.
References: The Daily Monitor, July 12, 2009
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27d:
In practice, the chief executive limits the use of executive orders for establishing new regulations, policies, or government practices.
|
| |
| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
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| |
Comments: The president has, on several occasions, used orders that disregarded formal institutional processes.
A recent case being in July 2009 when he ordered the arrest of several policy officers including the OC Nateete Police Station and other police constables, who carried out evictions in Nateete the previous week.
Other incidents involving the president, include his orders to allocate chunks of police land at Naguru to a local businessman (Weekly Observer, Feb. 11, 2009) in complete disregard of the powers of the Uganda Land Commission.
References: Monitor, New Vision, Weekly Observer, June 2008 to August 2009
Peer Review Comments: There are a lot of verbal commands from the president rather than written policy implementations.
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| 28 |
Is the executive leadership subject to criminal proceedings? |
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28a:
In law, the heads of state and government can be prosecuted for crimes they commit.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
|
|
| |
Comments:
References: Article 98 (3) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda; The president cannot be taken to court during his or her term of office for anything done in his or her personal capacity before or during the term of office.
Peer Review Comments: After they leave power, officials can be prosecuted. Sometimes they remain in their seats for fear of being prosecuted.
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28b:
In law, ministerial-level officials can be prosecuted for crimes they commit.
|
| |
| Score: |
YES |
NO |
|
|
| |
Comments:
References: Article 118 of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda
Peer Review Comments: But ministerial-level officials normally escape justice through questionable verdicts.
Peer Review Comments: In practice, it is difficult to prosecute ministers who are very close to the president. A recent example is when a minister sold land at a price much higher than its market value to NSSF without following formal procedures; however, the minister was not prosecuted because the president protected him.
Peer Review Comments: Though the ministerial-level officials can be prosecuted, they still have a huge influence on compromising justice. That is why the prosecution of the former minister of health has never had a breakthrough. The case is unresolved and never been disposed of. The former Minister of Gender, Labor and Social Development, Bakoku Boakoru, has never been convicted for mismanagement of public funds in the national identity cards saga and there have not been any deliberate efforts by the government to hunt for her to bring her to justice.
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| 29 |
Are there regulations governing conflicts of interest by the executive branch? |
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29a:
In law, the heads of state and government are required to file a regular asset disclosure form.
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| Score: |
YES |
NO |
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| |
Comments:
References: Section 4 of the Leadership Code Act, 2002, (1) A leader shall (a) within three months after the commencement of this Code; and (b) thereafter every two years, during the month of March, submit to the Inspector-General a written declaration of the leader's income, assets and liabilities, the names, income, assets and liabilities of his or her spouse, child and dependent in the prescribed form, without prejudice to the rights of the leader's spouse, child and dependent to independently owned property.
Peer Review Comments: Whereas many leaders in Uganda have respected Section 4 of the Leadership Code Act, 2002, they are still never honest enough to disclose their actual wealth since most of leaders register their wealth and companies under the names of their relatives and friends.
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29b:
In law, ministerial-level officials are required to file a regular asset disclosure form.
|
| |
| Score: |
YES |
NO |
|
|
| |
Comments:
References: Section 4 of the Leadership Code Act, 2002, (1) A leader shall (a) within three months after the commencement of this Code; and (b) thereafter every two years, during the month of March, submit to the Inspector-General a written declaration of the leader's income, assets and liabilities, the names, income, assets and liabilities of his or her spouse, child and dependent in the prescribed form, without prejudice to the rights of the leader's spouse, child and dependent to independently owned property.
Peer Review Comments: Whereas many leaders in Uganda have respected Section 4 of the Leadership Code Act, 2002, they are still never honest enough to disclose their actual wealth since most of leaders register their wealth and companies under the names of their relatives and friends.
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| |
29c:
In law, there are regulations governing gifts and hospitality offered to members of the executive branch.
|
| |
| Score: |
YES |
NO |
|
|
| |
Comments: However, Section 10 of The Leadership Code Act, 2002 notwithstanding, a leader may in Section 10 (3) accept a gift if the gift is in the nature of a souvenir or ornament and does not exceed five currency points in value
References: Section 10, Leadership Code Act, 2002 (1) A gift or donation to a leader on any public or ceremonial occasion, or commission to a leader on any transaction shall be treated as a gift or donation or commission to the government or institution represented by the leader, and shall be declared to the Inspector-General; but the government or institution shall keep an inventory of any such gifts.
Peer Review Comments: In practice, gifts offered to ministers are not declared.
Peer Review Comments: Very few, or even none, of our leaders have declared gifts in any form.
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| |
29d:
In law, there are requirements for the independent auditing of the executive branch asset disclosure forms (defined here as ministers and heads of state and government).
|
| |
| Score: |
YES |
NO |
|
|
| |
Comments:
References: Sections 3 and 4, Leadership Code, 2002
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| |
29e:
In law, there are restrictions on heads of state and government and ministers entering the private sector after leaving the government.
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| |
| Score: |
YES |
NO |
|
|
| |
Comments:
References: Part IV-Post Employment (section 16 of the Leadership Code Act, 2002).
Peer Review Comments: But heads of state and government and ministers engage in private business when they are both in public office and when they are out of office.
Peer Review Comments: Ministers are free to join the private sector without restrictions, even after they leave the government.
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| |
29f:
In practice, the regulations restricting post-government private sector employment for heads of state and government and ministers are effective.
|
| |
| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Comments: The IGG does not have the capacity to monitor what all leaders do after serving in government. Apart for the president, which is easy to monitor considering the number of former presidents, for other leaders this law is kept dormant and only used if there is information about irregularities caused by a leader.
References: Media Report; Daily Monitor, New Vision, The Weekly Observer (June 2008 to August 2009) Interview with Simon Opolot Okwalinga, Principal Inspectorate Officer/Head Media, Communications and Public Relations, Aug. 25, 2009
Peer Review Comments: A number of government officials have other employment.
Peer Review Comments: Former ministers freely engage in the private sector, including being able to win government contracts without restrictions.
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| |
29g:
In practice, the regulations governing gifts and hospitality offered to members of the executive branch are effective.
|
| |
| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
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| |
Comments: Attempts have been made from the executive to declare gifts and hospitaility such as during the period 2005 to 2007, the president H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was able to declare US $100,000 he received as gift to the Inspector General of Government (IGG).
Despite this, enforcing this law is hard and often relies on the goodwill of persons to declare gifts recieved, as the office of the IGG does not have the capacity to monitor what leaders get as gifts wherever they go.
References: Interview with Simon Opolot Okwalinga, Principal Inspectorate Officer/Head Media, Communications and Public Relations, Aug. 25, 2009
Inspectorate of Government, Actvities and Achievements of the Inspectorate of Government, June 2008.
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| |
29h:
In practice, executive branch asset disclosures (defined here as ministers and above) are audited.
|
| |
| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Comments: There are more than 17,000 leaders, who have made their declarations. Due to this big volume versus the limited staffing, the inspectorate of government doesn't verify all the declarations, but randomly selects a few to verify/audit or selects by category/position or verifies when a complaint against a leader's declaration is lodged to the inspectorate.
References: www.igg.go.ug Media Reports (June 2008 to August 2009) Interview with Simon Opolot Okwalinga, Principal Inspectorate Officer/Head Media, Communications and Public Relations, Aug. 25, 2009
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| 30 |
Can citizens access the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government? |
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| |
30a:
In law, citizens can access the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government.
|
| |
| Score: |
YES |
NO |
|
|
| |
Comments:
References: Section 7, Leadership Code Act, 2002. The contents of a declaration under this code shall be treated as public information and shall be accessible to members of the public upon application to the Inspector General of Government in the form prescribed under this code.
Peer Review Comments: Citizens are not aware of this right. Citizens do not know that they have a right to access the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government.
|
| |
30b:
In practice, citizens can access the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government within a reasonable time period.
|
| |
| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Comments: The declarations are accessible to the public, but only upon with application to the Inspectorate General of Government. Formerly, the forms were published, but in 2002 this led to a court case againt the inspectorate, which thereafter stopped publication of declaration forms.
Once an application has been made to the inspectorate, this could take up to more than a month for one to retrieve a form out of the 17,000 declarations.
References: New Vision, Monitor, Weekly Observer and the Independent, June 2008 to August 2009 Inspectorate of Government website (www.igg.go.ug) Interview with Simon Opolot Okwalinga, Principal Inspectorate Officer/Head Media, Communications and Public Relations, Aug. 25, 2009
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| |
30c:
In practice, citizens can access the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government at a reasonable cost.
|
| |
| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Comments: Once retrieved, and if request is for genuine reasons and approved by the Inspector General of Government, records are given out free of charge.
References: Interview with Simon Opolot Okwalinga, Principal Inspectorate Officer/Head Media, Communications and Public Relations, Aug. 25, 2009 Inspectorate of Government website (www.igg.go.ug)
Peer Review Comments: Retrieving records requires a visit to the Inspector General of Government (IGG) office and one may need to visit the office more than once before the request is approved by the IGG.
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| |
30d:
In practice, the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government are of high quality.
|
| |
| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Comments: Some assets have often been hidden in their children's and other relative's names.
References: Media Reports ( New Vision, Daily Monitor, Weekly Observer) www.igg.go.ug
Peer Review Comments: Not all is told about the asset disclosure records of the heads of state and government.
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| 31 |
In practice, official government functions are kept separate and distinct from the functions of the ruling political party. |
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| |
31:
In practice, official government functions are kept separate and distinct from the functions of the ruling political party.
|
| |
| Score: |
100 |
75 |
50 |
25 |
0 |
|
|
| |
Comments: The party structures are fused with the government. For example, politicians in government use government/public resources such as cars and staff (for example sub-county chief), who despite being civil servants are required to attend a mandatory "para-military training" and are often used for partisan purposes in the interest of the National Resistance Movement Organization.
References: New Vision, Daily Monitor, The Weekly Observer
Peer Review Comments: The government is synonymous with the ruling party.
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