DONE DEAL: NRM MPs Endorse UPDF Amendment Bill

The National Resistance Movement (NRM) Members of Parliament have expressed their endorsement of the contentious UPDF Amendment Bill, which is slated for debate on the floor of Parliament today.

This resolution was reached at State House Entebbe on Monday during a caucus meeting presided over by President Yoweri Museveni.

In a subsequent address to journalists, the Government Chief Whip, Denis Hamson Obua, announced the Caucus’s unanimous support for both the UPDF Amendment Bill and a Private Member’s Bill aimed at amending the Political Parties and Organisations Act.

According to the Chief Whip, the caucus resolved to wholeheartedly back the UPDF Amendment Bill as presented to Parliament by the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs.

“Our unanimous endorsement is in alignment with a prior Caucus resolution and fulfills a Supreme Court ruling that necessitated specific legislative amendments to the UPDF Act,” stated Obua.

The UPDF Amendment Bill aims to revise the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces Act to enhance the composition of the organs and structures of the defence forces; to delineate the definitions of service offence, court martial, military court, and reserve force; and to facilitate the restructuring and reestablishment of the courts martial within the defence forces in accordance with the Constitution and related matters.

Opposition MPs have pledged to vigorously contest the proposed legislation, asserting that it seeks to legitimize the trial of civilians in military courts.

In a noteworthy initiative aimed at restructuring political party financing, Obua informed the press that the Caucus has also extended its support to a Private Member’s Bill that seeks to amend the Political Parties and Organisations Act.

The proposed amendment, introduced by Napak Woman MP, Faith Nakut, would mandate that all political parties become members of the Inter-Party Organisation for Dialogue (IPOD) as a prerequisite for accessing government funding.

Currently, the Act allocates government funding to political parties represented in Parliament under Section 14.

However, Nakut contended that the law does not require these parties to uphold democratic values such as tolerance, dialogue, and peaceful co-existence as conditions for accessing public resources.