PARLIAMENT: The Government Chief Whip, Hon. Denis Hamson Obua on Thursday moved a motion on the floor of Parliament to withdraw the UPDF Amendment Bill.
Hon. Obua told the House, chaired by Speaker Rt. Hon. Anita Among, that the move is meant to accommodate and comply with the recent Supreme Court ruling on the trial of civilians in the General Court Martial and also to address several recommendations made by the same court.
“The withdrawal of the bill is primarily to enrich it to ensure that we comply with the ruling of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Uganda,” said Obua.
The ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party parliamentary caucus sitting on February 7, 2025 at State House Entebbe resolved that the Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka should introduce an amendment to the UPDF act in response to the Supreme Court ruling.
The meeting hosted by President Yoweri Museveni and chaired by the Government Chief Whip, Denis Hamson Obua, cautiously decided to ask the Attorney General to first withdraw the current UPDF amendment bill before Parliament.
“We the Members of the NRM Parliamentary Caucus, assembled at State House, Entebbe today Friday 7th February, 2025, agreed that the UPDF Amendment Bill currently in Parliament be withdrawn,” Obua told journalists at Parliament after the meeting.
The Attorney General was also given time to draft a new amendment to deal with the court recommendations.
“We resolved that the Attorney General be given time to draft the new proposals into the UPDF Amendment Bill, pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling, and an Extraordinary Caucus meeting be convened to discuss the proposals of the Bill,” added Obua.
Some of the recommendations made by the Supreme Court include: appointing lawyers in UPDF to serve in the Court Martial, structuring the tenure of court officials and the manner of their appointment and separation of disciplinary unit from the court system among others.
