The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Ephraim Kamuntu has asked parliament to halt the consideration of the Sexual Offences Bill 2019, to allow government to carry out consultations.
Kamuntu was appearing before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee which started considering the Bill this week. He had appeared to present government’s position on the proposals carried in the Bill tabled by Kumi Woman MP Monica Amoding.
The Bill was re-tabled last year in November by Amoding nine months after a stalemate that forced the Bill to be re-written. It seeks to consolidate laws relating to sexual offences and provide procedural and evidential requirements during the trial of sexual offences. It also proposes several measures to check among others, sexual harassment in schools by guardians or teachers.
First introduced in 2015 during the Ninth Parliament, a report by the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee was presented four years later on 13 February 2019, but during the processing of the Bill, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah then questioned several amendments made to the original bill by the author and advised that it should be reconsidered.
Following fresh processing of the Bill by the Committee which kicked off on Tuesday, Minister Kamuntu on Thursday rejected the justification for the new Bill proposals asking for more time for a comprehensive analysis to be undertaken of the provisions and the penal code to ensure that the statute book is not distorted with duplication of laws which contain nearly similar provisions.
“Consultation is a key part of the legislative process. We entreat the Parliament to enable further consultation on this Bill with the relevant stakeholders namely the Uganda Police, the office of Directorate of Public Prosecutions, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and the Judiciary,” said Kamuntu.
He noted that some of the issues for discussion in the consultations include sex offenders register and the role of the police, the Judiciary, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the National Identification of Persons Authority.
However, the Minister’s request was opposed by Mitooma Woman MP Jovah Kamateeka who said that there have been calls for eight years for government to bring the said legislation and the Ministry of Justice declined. She added that this failure prompted the private member to bring the proposed piece of legislation.
In response, Kamuntu admitted to delayed presentation of legislation by government attributing this to bureaucracy in government. He however said that there is a political will to have things done on time.
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