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Andrew Lutakome Kayira andPaulo Semogerere v Edward Rugumayo and Others (Constitutional Case 1 of 1979)

Court of Appeal · [1980] UGCA 3 · 1980 Declarations Partly Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance representative action for declaratory relief brought before the Court of Appeal sitting as a Constitutional Court
Decision
Some declarations sought were granted and others refused; the plaintiffs partly succeeded. The removal of President Lule was held to be a non-justiciable political act.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The Court of Appeal, sitting as a Constitutional Court, held that the 1967 Constitution (as modified by the Proclamation in Legal Notice No. 1 of 1979) is the supreme law of Uganda, and that the UNLF Constitution and Moshi Minutes were never incorporated into law. The President's power to appoint Ministers under Legal Notice No. 1 of 1979 was unfettered and required no NCC approval. Legal Notice No. 2 of 1979 was void, having been issued by the President rather than the NCC. The NCC removed President Lule as a political organ of the UNLF, not as a legislature; that political act was non-justiciable, so the Court declined to declare it unconstitutional. Costs were awarded to the second plaintiff only.

Outcome

Some declarations sought were granted and others refused; the plaintiffs partly succeeded. The removal of President Lule was held to be a non-justiciable political act.

Facts

In March 1979 exiled Ugandan groups met at the Moshi Unity Conference in Tanzania and formed the Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) to replace the Amin regime. The UNLF had three organs including the National Consultative Council (NCC). After Amin's fall in April 1979, the UNLF assumed government, with Professor Y.K. Lule as President and Chairman of the National Executive Committee. By Proclamation (Legal Notice No. 1 of 1979) legislative powers were vested in the NCC and Chapters IV and V of the 1967 Constitution were suspended. On 19–20 June 1979 the NCC, meeting at State House Entebbe, passed a vote of no confidence in Lule (18 to 14) after he failed to submit his ministerial and political appointments for ratification, removing him from office. Two original NCC members, Kayira and Semogerere, brought a representative action seeking declarations on the supremacy of the 1967 Constitution, the President's appointment powers, and the constitutionality of Lule's removal.

Issues

  1. Whether the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda of 1967 is the supreme law of Uganda and not the UNLF Constitution or the Minutes of the Moshi Unity Conference.
  2. Whether the President had powers to appoint Ministers without the approval or ratification of the National Consultative Council.
  3. Whether the procedure followed in removing Professor Lule as Chairman of the National Executive Committee and thus as President was unconstitutional.
  4. Whether the National Consultative Council had powers to remove the President from office.
  5. Whether, when deciding matters of national interest, the National Consultative Council must sit as a legislature governed by the Constitution of Uganda.

Orders

  • Declaration issued that the Constitution of Uganda of 1967 (as by law established) is the supreme law of Uganda.
  • Declaration issued that at the material time the power to make ministerial appointments vested solely in the President and the National Consultative Council had no legal powers to ratify or approve such appointments.
  • Declaration refused that the procedure for removing Professor Lule was unconstitutional.
  • Declaration issued (modified) that the National Consultative Council, acting as a legislature, had no power to remove the President from office.
  • Declaration refused that the NCC must sit as a legislature when deciding matters of national interest.
  • Costs: majority ordered each party to bear own costs; Asthana J would have ordered defendants to pay second plaintiff's costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Constitutional Law — Supremacy of the Constitution — Status of extra-legal political instruments
The 1967 Constitution, as modified by the Proclamation in Legal Notice No. 1 of 1979, is the supreme law of Uganda; documents such as the UNLF Constitution and the Minutes of the Moshi Unity Conference, not having been incorporated into municipal law, form no part of the law of Uganda and cannot override it.
Constitutional Law — Revolutionary legality — Validity of a new legal order
A victorious revolution that nullifies and replaces the existing legal order in a manner not prescribed by that order creates a new legal order having the force of law; the validity of other laws is thereafter determined by reference to the new order.
Constitutional Law — Delegated legislative power — Ultra vires exercise
Where a Proclamation vests all legislative power in a designated body, the President cannot validly legislate by amending that Proclamation himself; Legal Notice No. 2 of 1979, issued by the President rather than passed by the National Consultative Council, was made in contravention of the existing law and was null and void.
Constitutional Law — Executive appointment powers — Fetters by non-statutory instruments
The power conferred on the President by Legal Notice No. 1 of 1979 to appoint Ministers is unfettered and requires no approval or ratification; a non-statutory instrument of political association cannot lawfully limit the executive appointment powers conferred by law.
Statutory Interpretation — Construction of a Constitution — Ordinary and natural meaning
A Constitution is to be construed in the same manner as any other legislative enactment: where the words are precise and unambiguous they must be given their ordinary and natural meaning, and a liberal or purposive construction arises only where the language is imprecise or ambiguous.
Constitutional Law — Political questions — Non-justiciability
The removal of a President by a political organ acting under its own instrument of association raises a political question concerning the possession of political power which is not justiciable in courts of law and is reserved to the political organs of the State.
Statutory Interpretation — Preambles and conference reports — Aids to construction
A preamble does not form part of the enacting provisions of a statute, and reports or minutes of conferences are not admissible to directly ascertain legislative intention; matters merely referred to in a preamble are not thereby incorporated into law.

Legislation cited (20)

Cases cited (13)

  • Uganda v Commissioner of Prisons, Ex parte Matovu [1966] EA 514
  • Luther v Borden (1849) 7 How 1
  • The State v. Dosso and Another (1958) 2PSCR 180
  • Asma Jilani v. Government of Punjab (PLL 1972) Supreme Court 139
  • Madzimbamuto v Lardner-Burke [1969] 1 AC 645
  • Shah v Attorney General (No.2) [1970] EA 523
  • Semu Kiseka Mukwaba & Others v Daudi Musoke Mukubira & Others 7 ULR 74
  • Katikiro of Buganda v Attorney General of Uganda [1959] EA 582
  • Attorney General of Uganda v Kabaka's Government [1965] EA 393
  • Keshava Menon v State of Bombay (1951) S.C.R. 228
  • Suleiman Fakir Mohamed v A.J. Hindoo [1957] EA 789
  • Eastman Photographic Co v Comptroller-General of Patents [1898] AC 571
  • Assam Railways and Trading Co Ltd v Inland Revenue Commissioners [1935] AC 445

Full judgment

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Andrew Lutakome Kayira andPaulo Semogerere v Edward Rugumayo and Others (Constitutional Case 1 of 1979) [1980] UGCA 3 (21 October 1980)
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.