The POMA sections being petitioned against are four, five, six, seven, nine and 10 which violate the constitutional provisions of freedom of expression, assembly and association in the 1995 constitution of Uganda.
The constitutional court
has received a petition from three legal practitioners against the Public Order
Management Act (POMA).
The petitioners James
Nkuubi, Cissy Nabatanzi Ssempa and Grace Mark Tusubira, under the Network for
Public Interest Lawyers (NETPIL) plea to the court of Appeal to scrap off six articles
spelt out in POMA which they say conflict with article 29 of the 1995 Constitution
of Uganda.
Cissy Nabatanzi
Ssempa, one of the petitioners says police and government are using the POMA to
prevent people from enjoying their rights to associate and assemble.
She says while the
COVID-19 guidelines are also used to deter people from enjoyment of their rights,
when COVID-19 is prevailed over, people should be able to hold demonstrations
and assemble and it is illegal and uncalled for to exist in Uganda.
\\ Cue in “the
violations have…
Cue out …rights of
people.”//
Grace Mark Tusubira,
says that some sections of the POMA have already been repelled by court after finding
that they lead to the abuse of fundamental human rights and freedoms of
Ugandans.
\\ Cue in “it is very…
Cue out …null and
void.”//
The Constitutional Court in two cases scrapped sections of the POMA. The cases are Muwanga Kivumbi versus Attorney General section 32 was scrapped, while in
the Human Rights Network - Uganda (HURINET) versus Attorney General section 8
was scrapped.
The POMA sections being petitioned against are
four, five, six, seven, nine and 10 which violate the constitutional provisions
of freedom of expression, assembly and association in the 1995 constitution of Uganda.
The sections detail
the meaning of a public meeting, notice of public meeting, notification of the authorized
officer, spontaneous public meetings, duties of the police, the responsibilities
of organizers and participants.
In sections (a), (d) and (e) of
article 29 of 1995 the Constitution of Uganda provides freedom of speech
and expression which shall include freedom of the press and other media, freedom to assemble and to demonstrate
together with others peacefully and unarmed and to petition; and freedom of
association which shall include the freedom to form and join associations or
unions, including trade unions and political and other civic organizations.
