Co-Sponsors: Presidential Taskforce on Employment of Adults with Disabilities, President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, Department of State, Center for Mental Health Services, National Council on Disability, US Agency for International Development, US Information Agency, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

The Political Process That Led To The Inclusion Of Disability In The Constitution Of Uganda

Hon. Nayiga Florence - Ssekabira (Mrs.)

Minister of State for Gender, Labour and Social Development,

in charge of Disability and Elderly Affairs
Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development

KAMPALA, UGANDA.

DRAFT: DO NOT DISTRIBUTE

THE POLITICAL PROCESS THAT LED TO THE INCLUSION OF DISABILITY IN THE UGANDAN CONSTITUTION

1.0? INTRODUCTION

Disability concerns today in Uganda have reached a level where they are part and parcel of the general countries concerns which have to be addressed in National policies and programmes. The concerns have been enshrined with in the Ugandan Constitution of 1995 and have subsequently been addressed through a number of legal provisions like the Parliamentary Elections Statute 1996, the Children Statute 1996, the Local Government Act 1997, the Land Act 1998, the Uganda Communication Act 1997, the traffic and Road safety Act 1998, the UNISE Act 1998 and the Movement Act, 1998. Each of these Legal provisions has mainstreamed disability concerns in matters they regulate and the solution have always been geared to improving accessibility of persons with disability to all environments of the Ugandan Society and provision of equal opportunities to persons with disabilities to increase their capacity to participate in the development of the Ugandan society.

These achievements, many as they look, have not come so easily as they seem to pop out of writers mind. It has taken Decades of Mobilisation, Lobbying and Advocacy to create the awareness and the Conviction that persons with disabilities can contribute to the development of our society, if their potentials are harnessed to the fullest by providing opportunities to them to enable them participate fully in all matters concerning development in Uganda.

The efforts to mobilise and advocate for equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities have been done by none other than the persons with disabilities through their Disability Movement spearheaded by National Union of Disabled persons (NUDIPU). In fact in Uganda, the growth of the Disability Movement is considered to be synonymous with the growth of NUDIPU and subsequently to the progress of Disability friendly policies and programmes in Uganda.

In order to trace the political process that led to the inclusion of Disability in the Ugandan context one needs to look at the historical role NUDIPU has played in this process and subsequently the steps it went through to make the Ugandan Constitution Disability friendly. Also it is important to note that this process was greatly enhanced by the political environment provided by the National Resistence policies.

NUDIPU (National Union of Disabled Persons) was formed in 1987. Prior to these, Persons with Disabilities were not involved in the planning and implementation of programmes meant to benefit them. By establishing NUDIPU, a unified Voice of PWDs to challenge the inconsistencies in policy making and planning for PWDs, was activated.

The General Principle behind this voice was that "Nothing for us without us" NUDIPU's establishment and participation has been fundemental in changing a number of things between then and now. Their advocacy has given rise to the following:

• Mainstream programmes and the environment are increasingly being constructed/designed in a manner that recognises and sensitive to the needs of PWDs services. Previously the emphasis was on isolation of PWDs from the Community. They have however, changed to Community Based Rehabilitation with Institutionalisation as a last resort for very special cases and only temporary;
• Persons with disabilities are increasingly being seen as individuals who able and capable of directing the development of their future rather than objects of charity that have to depend on others in order to survive in society;

NUDIPU has now expanded to every district of Uganda where it has a District Union affiliate. Its coverage has increased to include Councillors representing persons with disability at all Local Government Councils in the country. Members of Parliament for PWDs have also been using the NUDIPU structure and are closely being supported in their work by NUDIPU.

It is the strength that NUDIPU has acquired that has been instrumental in bearing on all policy making organs to consider including what it advocates for into their decisions. This inclusion is increasingly permeating through every policy that is being considered now. Without the mobilisation of PWDs which is attributed to NUDIPU, the inclusion of Disability in the Uganda Constitution 1995 and the subsequent legislation would not have been.

This mobilisation was greatly assisted by the politics of inclusion of all sections of society especially the marginalised one, promoted by the National Resistance Movement government which was ushered in by President Yoweri Museveni in 1986. This regime initiated a lot of progressive legislative action and it based this action on a participatory approach involving the common man irrespective of creed, disability, sex, race, tribe and background. Such special interest groups like the women, the youth, the workers, the army and PWD have politically been empowered to participate in the Governance of the country at national, district, subcounty level and village level. It is this kind of political environment that enabled the Disability Movement to grow and achieve the substantive steps it has made so far.

Contribution of the Disability Movement through NUDIPU to the ideas which formulated the Draft Constituion, compiled and put together by the Constitutional commission. It is this commission that recommended that persons with disabilities should have a representation in the Constitutional Assembly to discuss and pass the Uganda Constitution of 1995.

PWD were represented in the Constituent Assembly, between 1994 and 1995, by one representative, the late Hon. Eliphaz Mazima, who represented the PWDs effectively to make sure Disability friendly provisions were included in the Constitution.

Hon. Mazima managed to create alliances with other delegates in the Assembly to advocate for inclusion of the provisions. Later on when it came to passing the Constitution all delegates could not resist to sanction the provisions that favoured all marginalised groups, particularly people with disabilities. The Constitution being the supreme law of Uganda, has given rise to many other legislations to operationalise its provisions for persons with disabilities.

The Constitutional provisions for persons with disabilities in the Uganda Constitution are outlined in the appendix to this paper.

The process for inclusion of Disability in the Constitution of Uganda was greatly influenced by the level of mobilisation, the Disability Movement had already achieved coupled with the supportive political environment ushered in by the National Resistence Movement Government and a General realisation from policy makers that progressive inclusive policies and legislation had to be passed in order to enhance the participation of every section of the Uganda Society in National Development.

The bottom line, however, is that for disability inclusive policies to happen, there must be a high level of mobilisation of people with disabilities. Otherwise, a divided group of PWD cannot have the authority to influence decisions which can improve the livelihood of the entire population of people with disabilities.

References