Africa-Press – Uganda. President Museveni has once again pronounced himself on the controversial Uganda Vinci Coffee Limited deal vowing to sort out anyone who stands in his way over the issue.
From the pronouncements he has made so far on the deal, it is very clear that the President is heavily invested in the matter. For clarity, we reproduce two of his statements on this matter.
“To bring a motion in Parliament that I am part of, me, President Yoweri Museveni and you say I do not know what I am doing! You might be the one ignorant about what you are doing and I will not accept it because, like this [issue] of Pinetti, I continued with it and I will not stop because it is correct. Whoever wants a fight, we shall sort it out,” President Museveni said.
In response to this newspaper about the same coffee deal earlier, he said: “These achievements have been in spite of the stiff opposition we have been facing from the parasites and their foreign backers such as The Monitor newspaper. Take an example on the 22 of May 2022, it said: ‘Coffee deal stinks but key culprits will not be punished’. Key culprit is myself. I am here, am abundant here, let me see who can dare touch me. I am the promoter of the coffee value addition, nobody else. It is me Yoweri Museveni…In other words, Museveni is committing a crime by trying to add value to coffee,” said Museveni.”
The President’s remarks to defy Parliament are very unfortunate and at the core of the debate on whether Uganda is a democracy. The system of separation of powers divides the tasks of the state into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial. These tasks are assigned to different institutions in such a way that each of them can check the others. Therefore, in a democracy, no one institution should have the potential to topple this system.
The three arms of government and by extension the media should be able to interact in an equitable and balanced way. This, we believe, is an essential element of the rule of law as envisaged and enshrined in the 1995 Constitution.
Parliament and other arms of government should be able to exercises a certain level of control over the executive and the President Museveni – led executive should be able to justify itself to Parliament in respect of everything it does or causes the administration to do.
The President’s threats against Parliament should not be taken lightly. The President has also, previously, threatened the Judiciary on a number of issues including eviction orders and the awarding of bail to suspects. The executive has also previously raided the courts and Parliament.
There are several instances in our history where leaders have disrespected other state institutions, often with tragic results. A good example is the Obote government after 1967. It might be argued that Uganda still adheres to the philosophy of the separation of powers in theory but not in actuality. Even that ideology is on the verge of disintegrating, which, in our opinion, portends disaster for the nation.
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