Buganda expels Uganda as Obote abolishes the 1962 Constitution

“…as from this moment, the constitution which we had from 9th October 1962 is hereby abrogated.” That was the declaration in Parliament by Prime Minister Apollo Milton Obote that abrogated Uganda’s independence Constitution on April 15, 1966.

Obote, having returned from a tour of northern Uganda to a pile of accusations about his involvement in gold smuggling in Congo, had earlier on February 22, suspended the constitution, before arresting five cabinet ministers behind his condemnation.

He also upset the setting up of a commission of inquiry to investigate deputy army commander Idi Amin, ministers Adoko Nekyon and Felix Onama, and himself in regard to the Congo Gold Scandal.

In a move described by historian Samwiri Karugire as a ‘treasonable act’, Obote proceeded to declare: “… we are also not Members of Parliament…NOW THEREFORE WE, the people of Uganda here assembled in the name of all the people of Uganda do resolve and it is hereby resolved that the constitution that came into being on the 9th day of October 1962 be abolished and it is hereby abolished accordingly and the constitution now before us to be adopted and it hereby adopted this day, 15th April 1966.”

Historians have described the abrogation of the Constitution as an assault on constitutionalism, but to Obote, his actions were “in the interest of national unity and public tranquility”, as historian Phares Mutibwa explains.

Whatever explanations advanced in support of the Prime Minister’s actions, the clear message delivered to the nation was that the Constitution was not as crucial an instrument as is supposed to be.

As Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere explains, Obote’s actions shed light into the vast power that the presidency in Uganda continues to wield. “That the head of state could abrogate the constitution and replace it with one of his own choice was the severest blow at the working of the state. It showed that the constitution was not a sacred and respected document, and that the power of the president was in a sense limitless,” Prof. Kabwegyere says in his book The Politics of State formation and Destruction in Uganda.

Amidst the political brawling between central government and Buganda, as well as cracks within Obote’s UPC party, one would have expected collective resistance to the Prime Minister’s action, at least from Members of Parliament who had earlier, wholesomely adopted a motion to probe Congo gold suspects.

However, historian Samwiri Karugire notes that “the blessed Honourables cheered” when Obote declared the ouster of the Constitution and proceeded to gleefully adopt the ‘pigeon hole’ Constitution even though none of them had debated its contents, leave along seen it.
“He [Obote] assured Members, who had not even seen the constitution they had just adopted, that ‘fairly soon you will find your copies in your pigeon holes’,” says Karugire in Roots of Instability in Uganda.

However, maybe the Members of Parliament didn’t have sufficient ‘tools’ to fight back, especially since the army was duly employed around the August House that day, and helicopters hovered intimidatingly above the city as though scanning for any sign of resistance.

“…the parliamentary buildings were entirely surrounded by heavily armed troops and armoured personnel carriers, and the planes of the Uganda Air Force were constantly screaming over the capital just in case anyone was misguided enough to miss the lesson,” explains Karugire.

Obote’s action, did not just open a chapter of contempt for the law but exposed the genesis of the toothless role of the arms of government, especially the legislature.
“From this point onwards, Parliament was finally confirmed to be a meaningless circus,” sums historian Karugire.

The abolition of the constitution, further deepened the political enmity between Obote’s government and Buganda since the new law outlawed kingdoms, rendering Buganda ‘stateless’ , with a Preventive Detention Act passed to deal with anyone that would be seen to be pro-feudalism.

Buganda, whose Kabaka, Obote had on March 3 sacked as President, alongside Vice President William Nadiope, would in May 19, 1966, declined to pass the new ‘unitary’ Constitution.
That new Constitution, which abrogated Buganda’s federal powers, squashed the kingdom’s economic and political independence, especially in regards to tax revenue.

Shaking the establishment
In that regard to those developments, the Kabaka would appeal to the United Nations Organisation in a last attempt to save Buganda’s autonomy.
“The Lukiko refused to pass the new constitution and demanded the withdrawal of the central government from Buganda soil by May 30, 1966. In other words, it revived its old demand of total independence…” explains Prof. Mahmood Mamdani in his book Politics and Class Formation in Uganda.

But even when Buganda moved to counter Obote’s actions with an order for central government to leave its soil upon which it was seated, the prime minister’s camp would indicate that they are not about to relent.

Instead, Obote would interprete Buganda’s declaration as a plot to topple the central government, and, making use of his right hand man Idi Amin, the army would invade the Kabaka’s palace.

Historian Mutibwa explains that the Lukiiko’s declaration, “immediately precipitated a confrontation” that led to the 1966 Buganda Crisis—an incident that has come to be known as the first and major blood bath in post-colonial Uganda.
Continues tomorrow.

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