Wakilii

Col. (RTD) Dr. Kiiza Besigye v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 33 of 2011)

Constitutional Court · [2019] UGCC 11 · 2019 Petition Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Constitutional petition challenging the constitutionality of provisions of the Penal Code Act and of police conduct.
Decision
Petition dismissed by majority, with no order as to costs.

The full judgment

Read the complete, verbatim text of this judgment.

Sign in to read the full judgment

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions — always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The petitioner challenged the constitutionality of Penal Code Act provisions on unlawful societies used to arrest participants in the 'Walk to Work' protests. By majority the Constitutional Court dismissed the petition, with no order as to costs. In his judgment Kakuru JCC declined to grant any relief, holding that the petitioner — having publicly rejected the Supreme Court's judgment confirming the 2016 presidential election, declared himself the legitimate President and established a parallel 'People's Government' — was in contempt of the Supreme Court's orders and could not be heard as a petitioner seeking remedies until he purged that contempt.

Facts

The petitioner, a retired colonel, medical doctor and opposition politician, contested and lost the presidential elections of 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. Following the 2011 election he and supporters launched civic activities, including a pressure group, Activists for Change (A4C), and a 'Walk to Work' campaign protesting economic and political conditions. In connection with these activities he was repeatedly arrested and charged with unlawful assembly, and was subjected to physical harm including being shot with a rubber bullet and sprayed with chemicals. He challenged the constitutionality of provisions of the Penal Code Act on unlawful societies under which police curbed the campaign and detained him and others. He further publicly rejected the Supreme Court's confirmation of the 2016 presidential election, declared himself the legitimately elected President, swore himself in, and established a parallel 'People's Government' and 'National Assembly'. These background facts were largely undisputed by the respondent.

Issues

  1. Whether the impugned sections of the Penal Code Act are inconsistent with the named articles of the Constitution.
  2. Whether the acts of the police complained of in the petition are unconstitutional.

Orders

  • By majority decision the petition is dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.

Key headnotes

Contempt of Court — Denial of Audience — Refusal of Remedies to a Party in Contempt
A party who is in contempt of court orders may be denied audience and refused any remedy until he or she purges the contempt; a litigant cannot invoke the powers of a court whose orders he has refused to obey.
Contempt of Court — Obligation to Obey Court Orders Whether Regular or Irregular
A person who knows of a court order, whether null, regular or irregular, may not disobey it on his own assessment of its validity, but must apply to the court to have it discharged; the order must be obeyed for as long as it stands.
Judgments — Judgment in Rem — Binding Effect of Supreme Court Declaration of a Valid Presidential Election
A Supreme Court decision declaring a person validly elected as President is a judgment in rem that binds all persons within the jurisdiction of the court on the subject matter.
Freedom of Expression and Assembly — Criminalisation of Peaceful Political Dissent
Citizens are free to walk, demonstrate or otherwise peacefully express discontent with government policies and laws regardless of political affiliation, and criminalising such dissent is unconstitutional (per Kakuru JCC, obiter).

Legislation cited (17)

  • Penal Code Act s.61
  • Penal Code Act s.57
  • Penal Code Act s.58
  • Penal Code Act s.59
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 1
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 3
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 21(1)
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 27
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 29(1)(a)
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 29(1)(b)
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 29(1)(d)
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 29(1)(e)
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 43(2)(a)
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 43(2)(e)
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 104
  • Constitution of Uganda Article 120(5)
  • Presidential Elections Act s.59

Cases cited (13)

  • Kizza Besigye v Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Presidential Election Petition No. 1 of 2001)
  • Rt. Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye v Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Electoral Commission (Supreme Court Election Petition No. 1 of 2006)
  • Amama Mbabazi v Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Attorney General & Electoral Commission (Supreme Court Election Petition No. 1 of 2016)
  • Uganda v Commissioner of Prisons, Ex parte Matovu [1966] EA 514
  • Jennison v Baker [1972] 1 All ER 997
  • Hadkinson v Hadkinson [1952] 2 All ER 567
  • Wildlife Lodges Ltd v County Council of Narok [2005] EA 344
  • Uganda Super League Ltd v Attorney General and 6 Others (Constitutional Application No. 72 of 2013)
  • Housing Finance Bank Ltd & Another v Edward Musisi (Miscellaneous Application No. 158 of 2010)
  • Stanbic Bank & Another v Commissioner General Uganda Revenue Authority (Miscellaneous Application No. 0042 of 2010)
  • Olara Otunnu v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 12 of 2010)
  • Muwanga Kivumbi v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 9 of 2005)
  • Moses Mwandha v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 5 of 2007)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.