Vaccine mandates a new low for human rights violations in Uganda

Parliament has been in the spotlight in recent times, not for reining in exorbitant commodity prices, rising insecurity and torture, burgeoning unemployment and graft; but for being complicit in some way, and in some cases being completely unbothered. Whereas the concept of legislative representation is to voice people’s concerns, it appears that our elected officials are an elite club completely out of touch with the electorate.

The new vaccine mandates present a perfect pedestal to gauge what Parliament really cares about. The United Kingdom has since moved away from all manner of mandates, studies have shown that the ongoing health crisis is not a pandemic of the unvaccinated. There are debates on the efficacy of mandates, effectiveness of experimental inoculation, what brand, what frequency and vaccine apartheid. Even in Uganda, government is not willing to insure the populace for any side effects from vaccination programmes. Underlying health conditions have been cited as a strong point against vaccination. The jury is still out on what the best approaches are to curbing novel pathogens and their variants.

Human rights are innate and inalienable. Children have shown formidable resilience to the pathogen and Article 34 of the Constitution is clear that laws should be implemented to ensure that children have rights to be cared for by their parents or legal guardians. Is it in the best interests of our children to force them into mandatory inoculation using experimental vaccines for a pathogen whose nature changes by the season, and the children are not at the worst risk of suffering from?

Have we had the benefit of 20 year studies to be sure that such children will not suffer irreversible side effects down the road (without government liability), or do we not care that far down the road? Article 43 provides for clear limitations to human rights and despite the “science” on what the biggest causes of illness and death are in Uganda, we are attempting to create a perpetual state of emergency for novel pathogens!

It has become a curious case of Members of Parliament wishing away human rights because they can. It would be insightful to know if the people of Rukungiri Municipality have been sensitised about the pros and cons of mandatory inoculation for a morphing pathogen and that it is their informed decision to be punished severely for abstaining from vaccination.

However, if our MP, Dr Elisa Rutahigwa, makes his submissions as a doctor subscribing to a convenient school of thought on the subject, or supports the Bill for the politics of it, then we have a bigger problem at hand. How many residents in Rukungiri have Shs4 million to spare if they have a genuine health concern? Should an expectant mother be left for dead because she does not have a vaccination certificate to access a health centre? Would the First Parliamentary Counsel advise that incarceration is the best solution to opting out of medical procedures? Are we insolent enough to insult the intelligence of more than three quarters of Ugandans who are yet to be inoculated? Must caution be criminalised?

Mandatory testing at airports has stopped, schools and bars have fully opened, international media has moved to a war in the Balkans and that is when Uganda chooses to jail people to force consent. Our obeisance to “science” has moved away from the canons of informed consent, to silencing concerns and now in the case of our elected MPs to criminalising personal health decisions.

Uganda’s health sector faces acute problems of capacity, access and efficiency. It has also been blighted by transparency scandals, questions on organ trade and working conditions and pay for frontline staff. These cannot be whitewashed by punishing people who voluntarily opt out of a vaccination programme. This is a worst case of insensitivity, State overreach and wanton abuse of human rights. Such draconian measures might breed discrimination, stigma, political persecution, corruption, mob justice and counterfeiting. We should instead expend the same energy to educate our people, design programmes to sensitise Ugandans and incentivise vaccination programmes as other countries do.

The writer is a lawyer and author.