Civilians back in military Courts as Museveni signs UPDF amendment law
President Museveni. PHOTO/ FILE
What you need to know:
- NRM MPs passed the Bill seeking to return civilians to be tried in the army courts, but failed to clear up fuzzy clauses on what defines exceptional circumstances for their trial and what should be considered a military attire, as Opposition members walked out in protest.
President Museveni has signed the contentious UPDF (Amendment) Bill, 2025, into law, granting military courts sweeping powers to try civilians under certain circumstances, a move that critics say contradicts a January 31, 2025, Supreme Court ruling.
"President Museveni has assented to The Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (Amendment) Act, 2025," a Monday afternoon statement posted Parliament's X platform reads.
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) MPs on May 20, 2025 passed the Bill seeking to return civilians to be tried in the army courts, but failed to clear up fuzzy clauses on what defines exceptional circumstances for their trial and what should be considered a military attire, as Opposition members walked out in protest.
Hours after the passing of the Bill, Mr Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, lauded the MPs and "friendly opposition" legislators for preventing " a serious collision between the army, parliament, and the courts of law" if it had not been passed.
“I want to congratulate the Members of Parliament for passing the UPDF Amendment Bill. There was going to be a serious problem because some people were saying if a soldier does commit a crime such as killing a person, involving in theft or rapes a woman, they should be taken to the sub county (civilian courts) instead of the court martial. Those who were involved have to repent. There was going to be a serious collision between the army, parliament, and the courts of law, but they have saved us the embarrassment,” President Museveni said on May 21.
The Bill was approved amid heavy deployment within and outside Parliament, with limited debate from the MPs, with the Opposition walking out barely 30 minutes into plenary debate.
A total of 197 MPs from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party attended the plenary and overwhelmingly voted in favour of all the proposed amendments in the Bill without any objection.
But the session was never short of drama as the Opposition lawmakers stormed out in protest, accusing the Speaker and government of railroading the Bill through Parliament without sufficient scrutiny. Once off their seats, their NRM counterparts scrambled for the empty opposition seats.
Outnumbered
Despite spirited resistance from the few Opposition and Independents MPs, who stayed on, they were outnumbered by the NRM majority, whose members voted unanimously to pass the amendments.
