Africa-Press – Uganda. Former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has said the pre-emptive strike by Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) against Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels inside DR Congo was illegal.
Bobi Wine said the attack that was launched without consulting Parliament contravenes the UPDF Act, Section 39 and 40, and Article 124 of the Constitution which indicates that the President has to inform Parliament before declaring a state of war.
“When the country begins to attack rebels in another country without following the law, then there is so much to worry about. It is only in Uganda where a suicide bomber gets blasted into pieces in an explosion and the government knows them by name and religion,” the National Unity Platform (NUP) leader said.
But in a rebuttal, the UPDF spokesperson, Brig Flavia Byekwaso, said the operation was a joint agreement between the two countries. She said President Museveni, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, will pronounce himself on the matter soon.
“I think we are still within time that is required by law upon which the President is meant to inform Parliament, for instance the 21 days in the UPDF Act and the 72 hours in the Constitution. There are provisions in the law which should not be treated in isolation and those saying whatever they are saying just want to put the institution [UPDF] in disrepute,” Ms Flavia said.
Section 39(1, 2, and 3) of the UPDF Act states that “The President may deploy troops outside Uganda for purposes of peacekeeping or peace enforcement; (2) Deployment of troops for purposes of peacekeeping shall be done with the approval of Parliament; (3) Where the President deploys troops under this section when Parliament is on recess, the Speaker shall immediately summon Parliament to an emergency session to sit within 21 days after deployment, for purposes of ratifying that deployment.”
Article 124 of the Constitution, which talks about declaration of war, also stipulates that: “(1) The President may, with the approval of Parliament, given by resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of all the members of Parliament, declare that a state of war exists between Uganda and any other country.
By the time of the attack on ADF in DR Congo, however, Parliament was not on recess and it is not clear why President Museveni did not make a communication to the House.
Bobi Wine and his deputy in-charge of eastern Uganda, Mr John Baptist Nambeshe, said with the current debt of more than $10b (about Shs35 trillion), which was imposed after the UPDF incursion into the same country between 1996 and 2003, the army should not have launched another attack.
Mr Nambeshe said: “We know all what the army caused to the generations of Uganda when they first attacked the DRC. It is the same trick that they are using to enter the country. What a coincidence that when they launched an attack, the building of the roads in the country intensified.”
But Brig Byekwaso dismissed Mr Nambeshe’s claims as diversionary and being made by people who have ill intentions for the country.
“There is no way the debt we have with DR Congo and the recent attack are connected. People are just trying to plant bad blood because the construction of roads has been ongoing. Those people don’t have the interests of people at heart. Ugandans are happy and all the people of DR Congo are equally happy. When a bomb attack happens, it kills both NUP and National Resistance Movement people alike,” she said.
Although the plan to construct roads in DR Congo was launched in June, the project was officially launched last Friday and work was scheduled to commence on Monday this week.
Background
Last week, Uganda launched both ground and air strikes, hitting at least four ADF bases in the DR Congo.
Ground troops were then quickly deployed to rack up the operation.
Uganda accuses the rebel group of carrying out the recent terror bombings in Kampala City and its suburbs, and on a bus that was plying the Kampala-Masaka highway, leaving at least six people dead and tens injured.
The rebel group is also accused of killing 147 people in 30 separate terror attacks in the country between July 2001 and January 2021.
Members of the ADF were defeated in western Uganda before fleeing and finding haven in the remote and densely forested eastern DR Congo, where they have been holed up since 2007.
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