Africa-Press – Uganda. When the 1995 Constitution was formally adopted, there was hope that Uganda was seeing a new dawn, especially in respect of human rights. Indeed, the civil society organisations (CSOs), especially non-governmental organisations (NGOs), had hopes of thriving in this new democratic country.
That cannot be said of the same today. The space within which human rights can be championed has continuously shrunk. The government is always cracking down on specific individuals and organisations.
On January 2, 2021, the Democratic Governance Facility (DGF), which promoted human rights, and rule of law, was suspended on orders of President Museveni on allegations that its funds were “used to finance activities and organisations designed to subvert [the] government under the guise of improving governance.”
Later, on August 20, 2021, the government suspended the operations of 54 NGOs due to “non-compliance” with the NGO Act 2016.
According to the National Bureau for NGOs, 23 NGOs are operating with expired permits, 15 NGOs had failed to file annual returns and audited books of account to the NGO Bureau, and 16 NGOs were operating without registering.
The merits and demerits of these actions have been challenged in the courts of law and we cannot debate them further. Attempts to have some of them resume operations are yet to yield fruits even as the affected entities claim witch-hunt.
And then on February 3, the government formally notified the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) of the decision not to renew the mandate of its office in Kampala beyond its current term.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs argued that “the prevailing peace throughout the country, coupled with strong national human rights institutions and a vibrant civil society—with capacity to monitor the promotion and protection of human rights” in-house rendered the office’s presence redundant.
Moreover, this comes at a time when there is public outcry over rampant human rights violations in the country. The same public seems to have lost trust in the Uganda Human Rights Commission too, a government institution mandated with the promotion of human rights in the country.
These actions by the government are interpreted by many as part of a wider campaign to intensify intimidation and harassment of those who rise up to demand their rights and freedoms.
Even when there are genuine concerns from the government, we believe these should be backed by evidence and due procedures should be followed in finding lasting solutions. Crippling an otherwise would-be vibrant democratic country is not the answer. We call on authorities to revisit the decision not to renew the mandate of OHCHR.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
