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African Institute Of Energy Governance (AFRIEGO) v Attorney General (Consitutional Petition 15 of 2020)

Constitutional Court · [2024] UGCC 30 · 2024 Petition Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Constitutional petition challenging the constitutionality of statutory provisions under Article 137(3)
Decision
Petition dismissed; the impugned provisions of the National Environment Act 2019 held not inconsistent with the Constitution

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The petitioner challenged sections 81(3)(b), 82(1), 83(1)(d) and 83(2)(a) of the National Environment Act 2019 as inconsistent with the right to a clean and healthy environment (Article 39) and Parliament's duty to protect the environment (Article 245). The Constitutional Court held that, read in context and purposively, the impugned provisions create pollution control licences — not licences to pollute — and that Parliament discharged its Article 245(a) mandate. Section 83(2)(a) does not unconstitutionally make environmental and social impact assessments discretionary, because sections 112 and 113 with Schedules 4 and 5 make assessments mandatory for high-impact projects. The petition was dismissed with no order as to costs.

Outcome

Petition dismissed; the impugned provisions of the National Environment Act 2019 held not inconsistent with the Constitution

Facts

AFIEGO, a company limited by guarantee focused on energy governance and environmental preservation, petitioned the Constitutional Court contending that the country suffers significant pollution, a fact acknowledged by NEMA in its 2014 National State of the Environment Report. It challenged provisions of the National Environment Act 2019 establishing a technical committee empowered to issue what the statute terms pollution control licences to entities whose activities pollute land, water or air in excess of prescribed standards. The petitioner argued that NEMA should prevent pollution rather than license it, that the regime could be abused amid rising industrialisation in the oil sector, and that section 83(2)(a) unconstitutionally made environmental and social impact assessments discretionary rather than mandatory. The Attorney General opposed the petition, contending the provisions create pollution control licences that ensure a clean and healthy environment by effectively controlling pollution, and that environmental and social impact assessment requirements remained governed by other provisions and schedules of the Act.

Issues

  1. Whether sections 81(3)(b), 82(1) and 83(1)(d) of the National Environment Act 2019 are inconsistent with or in contravention of Articles 39 and 245 of the Constitution.
  2. Whether section 83(2)(a) of the National Environment Act 2019 is inconsistent with or in contravention of Articles 39 and 245(a) of the Constitution.
  3. Whether the petitioner is entitled to the remedies claimed.

Orders

  • Petition dismissed.
  • No order as to costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Statutory Interpretation — Purposive and Harmonious Construction — Reading the Whole Text
Where statutory words are clear and unambiguous they bear their ordinary meaning, but where a provision is ambiguous it must be given the construction that furthers rather than defeats the statute's manifest object, read harmoniously with the whole text including its long title and section headings.
Environmental Law — Pollution Control Licences — National Environment Act 2019
A pollution control licence issued under sections 81 to 83 of the National Environment Act 2019 authorises the regulation and control of pollution within prescribed limits in line with the polluter pays principle; it does not license persons or entities to pollute the environment.
Constitutional Law — Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment — Articles 39 and 245
Articles 39 and 245 of the Constitution must be read together as an integral whole, and Parliament discharges its duty under Article 245(a) where the legislation it enacts constitutes measures to protect and preserve the environment from abuse, pollution and degradation.
Environmental Law — Environmental and Social Impact Assessment — Discretion and Mandatory Regimes
The discretion conferred by section 83(2)(a) of the National Environment Act 2019 does not render environmental and social impact assessments optional, because sections 112 and 113, read with Schedules 4 and 5, make such assessments mandatory for prescribed high-impact projects.
Constitutional Law — Constitutional Petitions — Burden of Proof
A petitioner alleging that a statutory provision contravenes the Constitution bears the burden of proving the inconsistency by evidence, and cannot succeed by misinterpreting a provision considered in isolation from the rest of the statute.

Legislation cited (23)

Cases cited (14)

  • P. K. Ssemwogerere & Another v Attorney General (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 2002)
  • Attorney General of Tanzania v Reverend Christopher Mtikila [2010] EA 13
  • Amooti Godfrey Nyakana v NEMA & Others (Civil Appeal No. 5 of 2011)
  • ACODE v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Cause No. 1 of 2009)
  • Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC) & Centre for Economic and Social Rights v Nigeria, Communication No. 155/96
  • Oposa v Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 33 ILM 173 (1994)
  • Vellore Citizens' Welfare Forum v Union of India & Others (1996)
  • Attorney General v Major General David Tinyefuza (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 1997)
  • Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment v Attorney General (Miscellaneous Cause No. 1 of 2004)
  • Attorney General v Salvatori Abuki (Constitutional Appeal No. 1 of 1998)
  • Uganda Electricity Transmission Company v Desamaline Incorporation Ltd (Miscellaneous Cause No. 181 of 2004)
  • Sarla Goel & Others v Kishan Chand, 2009 AIR SCW 6549; 2009 (7) SCC 658
  • Citizens Bank of Bryan v First State Bank, 580 S.W.2d 344, 348 (Tex. 1979)
  • K Mart Corp. v Cartier, Inc., 486 U.S. 281, 291 (1988)

Full judgment

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African Institute Of Energy Governance (AFRIEGO) v Attorney General (Consitutional Petition 15 of 2020) [2024] UGCC 30 (9 May 2024)
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.