Kampala, February 1: President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda declared on Saturday that his administration would not stop using military tribunals to try civilians, despite the country’s highest court having declared the practice unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court of the east African nation ruled by a majority on Friday to prohibit civilian prosecutions in military courts and mandate the transfer of all pending cases there to civil courts.
Kizza Besigye’s attorney, a prominent opposition figure, praised the decision as providing him with some respite amid the country’s general court martial trial.
Museveni called the court’s ruling incorrect in a statement to the media on Saturday, adding that military prosecutions support civil courts and have contributed to the peacemaking of Karamoja, an area in northeastern Uganda that has been riven by armed conflict.
“The judges do not govern the country,” he declared. “We were able to discipline Karamoja with the aid of the military courts. We can’t and won’t give up on this helpful stability tool.”
Museveni’s government has long been accused by opposition politicians and human rights advocates of using military courts to bring politically motivated charges against opposition leaders and supporters.
The president appoints military court officials, but civilian court judges are independent.
Bobi Wine, a former Ugandan pop star who is now an opposition leader, has faced weapons-related charges in a military court before.
Longtime Museveni opponent Besigye was arrested in neighboring Kenya in November and returned to Uganda to face charges in the general court martial of various weapons and security offenses.
Since then, he has been detained and was scheduled to return to court on Monday, but his attorneys announced following Friday’s decision that he would not.
Although it is generally assumed that Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, will run for reelection next year, he has not publicly stated whether he will do so.
