A4C defies government ban, presses on with plan

L-R: Ms Ingrid Turinawe, the FDC Women’s League leader, her party president Kizza Besigye and coordinator Mathias Mpuuga have been the faces of the group.

What you need to know:

The Attorney General yesterday invoked Section 56 (2) (C) of the Penal Code Act that declares the group as an unlawful society, rendering the group’s activities as illegal.

KAMPALA

Activists for Change (A4C) officials last evening vowed to resist a move by the government to criminalise activities of the opposition pressure group, whose ban was announced yesterday.
The group is planning to celebrate the “International Day against Police Brutality” in Kampala today.

A Statutory Instrument, 2012 Number 14, signed by the Attorney General, Mr Peter Nyombi, yesterday invoked Section 56 (2) (C) of the Penal Code Act that declares A4C as “an unlawful society”.

“In exercise of the powers conferred on the Attorney General by section 56(2) (C) of the Penal Code Act , Cap. 120, this order is made this 4th day of April, 2012. This order may be cited as the Penal Code (Declaration of unlawful societies) Order, 2012. Any society specified in the schedule to this order is declared to be a society dangerous to peace and order in Uganda,” Mr Nyombi said.

Although the instrument schedule shows A4C as unlawful society, Inspector General of Police said only the Kololo rally will be allowed. “After the Kololo rally other meetings will be illegal,” Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura said.

The A4C national coordinator, Mr Mathias Mpuuga (Masaka Municipality, Independent), has been the brain behind Walk-to-Work protests.

Mr Mpuuga said they will defy the declaration as they have done to others that abuse their constitutional rights. “The AG is a desperate man. This is a colonial law but I tell you A4C will never be banned. Any banning will mean attempting to violate human rights that are enshrined in the Constitution Article 29,” Mr Mpuuga said yesterday, adding: “Part of the A4C agenda is to defy anything that abuses the law, including this declaration.”

At Kololo, Mr Mpuuga said, they would show a one-hour film documenting police brutality against the opposition.

Last week, Gen. Kayihura, issued eight tough guidelines for demonstrations during the Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly going on in Kampala, one of which was banning demonstrators from riding motorcycles from parking at Kololo Independence Grounds.

The instrument means that any A4C leader will be banned from managing or even assisting to establish any society for two years unless given the minister’s permission.

Section 56 of the Penal Code Act, says a society is “any combination of two or more persons whether the society is known by any name or not”.

The media has also been banned from covering the A4C activities.
Gen. Kayihura said: “Responsibility also befalls the media in relation to the reporting of these events. It should not be taken for granted that all rallies are organised by A4C, they simply are not”.