The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Going to court
Some affected NGOs such as the African Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) immediately issued a protest arguing that they are a compliant NGO.
AFIEGO says the matter of the suspension has been referred to its lawyer who will respond to the NGO Bureau.
“Legal options to end the targeted delegitimization, defamation, public shaming and other tactics aimed at stopping CSOs such as AFIEGO and our partners from playing their work of holding government accountable are being assessed,” it said.
It said, in the interim, AFIEGO and its partners have resolved to file a court case against the Attorney General (Ugandan government) to stop the intimidation and delegitimization of CSOs.
It points out that it was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee (number 106812) on March 18, 2009 by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) under the 2012 Companies Act.
It said it operates as a non-profit company and complies with the relevant laws that govern over non-profit companies. It files annual returns with URSB and complies with all other legal requirements that non-profit companies should.
AFIEGO also noted that seven of the organisations whose operations the NGO Bureau says that it has halted are AFIEGO’s partners. It said all its partners are also operating legally and comply with relevant laws.
“AFIEGO and its partners have been targeted because they play key human as well as environmental rights protection roles in the oil and gas sector. The organisations also hold government accountable with neither fear nor favour,” it said.
AFIEGO says their staff and partners’ staff have been targeted and arrested several times.
It cites a case in September 2020, when the AFIEGO Hoima district field officer was arrested and detained in Hoima district. She was arrested alongside our partners under the Save Bugoma Forest Campaign (SBFC). She was released without any charge. The two SBFC partners were released on police bond and have never been charged in courts of law to date.
In another case on May 25, 2021, AFIEGO’s Buliisa district field officer was arrested alongside an Italian journalist, Federica Marsi. Marsi was released without charge while AFIEGO’s Buliisa district field officer was detained for two nights in Buliisa and Hoima.
He was released on police bond with a holding charge of convening an unlawful assembly. He was arrested while engaging with the Italian journalist, and had not held any unlawful assemblies. “To date, our officer has not been charged in courts of law,” AFIEGO said in a statement.
“Despite the atmosphere of intimidation in which the CSOs operate, we continue to play our role because it is integral in protecting all Ugandans and our environmental resources,” AFIEGO said.
“AFIEGO is calling on the public to work with CSOs to engage government and use all the available legal options to end the intimidation of CSOs and the hostile civic space in which CSOs operate.”
****
