During the colonial period Ugandan districts and Kingdoms were administered along their pre-colonial identities. They were each essentially autonomous states that dealt with the colonial government separately. Even though formed in 1920, the colonial legislative council was for over 20 years a strictly colonial affair with no participation of the people of the various kingdoms and districts of Uganda. In essence, the colonialists did not create a sense of belonging to the nation, Uganda. Our leaders at independence had a non-enviable task of creating a new nation with a sense of common destiny.

In much of Africa, as in Uganda, strong centralized states were chosen over decentralized federal systems, and in much of Africa ethnic tensions threatening the nation-state prevail.

Each successive regime, including Idi Amin’s, came promising greater freedoms, rights and economic development for the population, and each descended into anti-democratic practices. Following his revolution in the late 1960s, Milton Obote essentially introduced a one-party state. In 1971 Idi Amin took power promising that his was only a temporary caretaker government, but soon he declared himself life-President. Lule and Binaisa are said to have taken unilateral decisions without consulting the military men to whom they owed their power. The current President, Mr. Museveni promised fundamental change, but has for 17 years limited free political organization and thus constrained political development. Much of the North of the country hardly notices the promised fundamental change. The lesson in all this is that unchecked power corrupts.

We propose a democratic federal constitution as a solution that brings the nation together, entrenches checks and balances, limiting the bad effects of absolute power, and ensures peace and economic development for all of Uganda’s regions.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines federalism as a form of government in which a union of states recognizes the sovereignty of a central authority while retaining certain residual powers of government.

The independent authority of the constituent units distinguishes federalism from the unitary system and the current decentralization system in Uganda in which the lower government units are delegated power by the central government that can also take them away.

Our proposed federal system and accompanying constitution have no precedent in Uganda. The 1962 constitution, even though better than all subsequent Ugandan constitutions, was not an ideal constitution. Its combination of federalism, semi-federalism and unitarism was not tenable in a country with strong ethnic rivalries and sensibilities. Our model grants federalism with equal powers to all of Uganda’s regions.

It is important to note that our model was a result of three years of discussions on FedsNet, a Ugandan federalist forum on the internet based on careful study of the federal constitutions of the U.S., Germany, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Switzerland and Belgium. In this discussion we will focus on a few areas of our model federal constitution.

We proposed a thirteen state federal system that grants federalism to all of Uganda’s major territories. The proposed thirteen states are:

The federal constitution would be the supreme law of the land, but the states would enact their own constitutions to take into account their own local governance preferences. State governors (including the Katikiro in Buganda) would be elected officials. The states would also have their own legislatures. States with strong cultural groups may have two chamber legislatures, the lower house elected on the basis of universal suffrage regardless of ethnicity, and the upper house representing cultural interests, with special representation for minority groups within a state.

One of Uganda’s biggest problems has been the lack of clear separation of powers or checks on power at all levels. James Madison, one of the framers of the U.S. constitution said:

Federal systems diffuse power to diminish the opportunities for tyranny.

In federal systems the states, in addition to ensuring a certain level of self-determination for the regions, check on the excesses of the federal government and vice-versa.

Chances are that if the 1962 constitution had been truly federal giving all Uganda’s regions equal federal powers, Mr. Obote would not have been able to get away with abolishing the independence constitution because all the states would have jealously guarded their rights making it impossible to pit one region against the others.

In order to ensure the balance of power between the states and the central government, federal systems clearly enumerate legislative, taxation and fiscal powers for all levels of government, particularly the central government and the states. The responsibility for local roads, schools, and economic development would be the primary responsibility of the states. Whereas foreign affairs, national defense, banking regulation etc, would be the preserve of the central government. Both the federal government and the states shall have legislative, executive and judicial powers. The federal government’s main role would be coordination and ensuring implementation of national objectives and standards through what is called the spending power – the use of grants to assist states to provide services.

Equalization and Regional Disparities

The Presidential and Congressional System

The President

The U.S. constitution originally had no limits on the number of Presidential terms, but after Franklin Roosevelt was elected to four terms, the 22nd amendment that limits the President to two-terms was adopted for fear of dictatorship. Many countries limit terms of their Presidents. Term limits are especially important in developing countries like Uganda where political institutions such as parties are relatively weak and are often powerless to check on the excesses of the Executive.

All members of the cabinet would need approval by the national assembly. The cabinet would not exceed 30 ministers, including deputies (for the 15 ministries). There shall be no Prime Minister, and no Minister of Local Government at the federal level.

As mentioned earlier, our proposed model adopts the U.S. congressional system for the legislature, which would be called the congress as in the United States. The congress would have two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate. The states would be allocated House of Representatives seats based on their population, whereas all the states regardless of size and population would have the same number of seats in the senate. Thus the senate would provide an equal voice for each of the states of the union.

James Madison, one of the authors of the federalist papers, argued that a two-house legislature would divide trust between different bodies of men who might watch and check each other and it would avoid the tyranny of a one-house legislature. John Hamilton, another author of the federalist papers called the senate a barrier to the excess by the lower house. In federal systems, the two house systems is also a mechanism to ensure that the small states collectively have a means to check on the power of the larger states through the senate in which all states have equal voices.

The House of Representatives would be the lower house elected directly. Each House seat shall correspond to a physical constituency. The number of House seats shall be as practically as possible be three times the number of senate seats plus one. There shall be no room for special nominations by the executive. This arrangement preserves the independence of the legislature and maximizes checks and balances.

The Senators would be elected by each state acting as a single electorate. Each state would have four senators. All major bills originating from the House of Representatives would have to be approved by the senate. The senate would also be responsible for approving all the President’s cabinet and judicial appointments.

There shall be a court system at the federal and state levels. The federal courts shall handle Federal issues, while the 13 state courts shall handle local issues.

Federal Supreme Court Justices, court of appeals judges, and magistrates shall be nominated by the President, on the advice of the Judicial Service commission and shall require confirmation by the senate.

The justices and judges shall hold office until retirement. A judge may be removed from office only if the Judicial Service commission finds that the judge suffers from health related incapacity or is guilty of gross misconduct. The decision shall be subject to review by the senate’s judiciary committee.

The Armed Forces

Internal security, intelligence and policing shall strictly be the function of the police.

In keeping with federalism’s concern about over concentration of power and checking potential tyranny, there would be state militias constituting the Army Reserve Force.

The framers of the United States Constitution considered state militias as necessary to check on potential despotic powers of the central government.

The Police

The National police agency shall in coordination with state police departments investigate interstate crimes, corruption, fraud and organized crime.

Amending the Constitution

Amendments affecting state boundaries, their numbers and the division of powers among the various levels of government shall be inadmissible.

Shall continue to exist in any state of Uganda where they are recognized. The kings may be constitutional, but non-executive heads of their states. The executive head in all states shall be elected leaders.

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