Action Agenda
Democracy, Corruption, Accountability
Environmental organizations in Uganda have found unavoidable the issues of democracy, corruption and accountability. We know that we can overcome our climate change and other environmental challenges only if we achieve good governance and full public involvement.
Many of our most serious environmental problems have happened because government officials perform incompetently, waste scarce public funds through inefficiencies or misplaced priorities, tolerate neglect of vital services and infrastructure, ignore obvious and urgent human needs, and refuse to be held accountable for any of this. Despite many dedicated public servants, mismanagement continues to sabotage much of their best work.
That is compounded by arrogant public officials who make momentous decisions with serious environmental consequences in secret, ignore legal requirements, abuse the human rights of affected persons and communities, and even commit corrupt acts. We are all familiar with recent instances, such as conflicts of interest, intimidation of rural communities, arbitrary arrests, and secret agreements.
Civil society organisations like NAPE are leading efforts to overcome these challenges. Across issue areas from climate change impacts to protected lands, NAPE has not hesitated to call out government and business leaders who abuse the public interest.
Government Must Respect Citizens
We proceed from the understanding that democratic institutions functions well only when citizens are involved meaningfully at every level of government – have free access to information – have a meaningful voice in decision-making – can expect competent performance of every agency of government – and can enforce accountability through the rule of law.
This is not happening today.
The results of incompetent, inefficient, corrupt government leadership are visible and shocking – unhealthy public water supplies, pot-holed highways, unreliable electrical power, stinking uncollected garbage, increasingly polluted rivers and lakes, dismantling of protected areas, declining fish and wildlife populations, and more.
Corruption takes a heavy toll. It has increased in recent years, with only superficial steps taken to curb it. For example, the annual loss through procurement fraud alone in Uganda totals $US500 million – 20 percent of the procurement budget – according to a 2006 World Bank estimate. Also, Uganda ranks 127th out of 178 nations in Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index, a shameful ranking.
Abuse of Citizen Rights
More disturbing are government officials who openly threaten arrest of citizens who ask for accountability. For example, President Museveni in 2011 declared that questioning his decisions were criminal acts of “economic sabotage.” He then proposed a new law that would suspend bail for people charged with economic sabotage, participating in demonstrations, committing murder, defilement, rape and treason.
“We need development in the country,” he said, “which can only be achieved through a stable country. A country that is free from demonstrators.” Controlled by him and his NRM political party, Parliament is likely to enact all or some of this authoritarian law.
Not just an abuse of human rights, this law would be contrary to such existing laws as the National Oil and Gas Policy, Objective 7, which aims to ensure full public participation in oil and gas exploration, production and decision-making. As the organization Revenue Watch stated, “One of the tools in the effort is active civil society engagement in helping to build a productive, vibrant and transparent oil and gas sector.”
NAPE Actions
NAPE is committed to informing and mobilizing concerned citizens to demand that all public officials perform their duties competently and responsibly – that they are accountable for their inept or corrupt performance – and that they adhere to the rule of law and due process. Our goal is to provide citizens in even the most remote communities with the capacity to understand the environmental and democratic values at stake and to stand up for themselves.
Here are some notable actions by NAPE:
When the Mabira forest was threatened in 2007, NAPE helped organize demonstrations there and in Kampala to protest turning it over to a damaging sugarcane factory farm.
Threatened again in 2011 when President Museveni announced its giveaway, for the same sugarcane factory farm, NAPE is coordinating the opposition once more, including aggressive international outreach.
After discovery of oil in Lake Albert, NAPE has helped organize local communities and other NGOs to demand transparency by the government – while also organizing OilWatch Africa, a coalition of oil-producing nations making common cause with others across sub-Saharan Africa.
In response to hydroelectric dam projects near Jinja, NAPE has mobilized affected communities to demand adherence to World Bank requirements that such projects minimize their impacts.
NAPE continues to scrutinize decisions by the protector of Uganda’s natural resources, the National Environment Management Authority, which it challenges when it fails to enforce its own rules, such as its approval of mining in Queen Elizabeth National Park and its failure to ban polythene bags.
NAPE also has a legal strategy that makes use of public interest attorneys to take the government to court, as a last resort only after failed repeated appeals to government officials to obey Ugandan and international laws.
In some cases, the government has charged us in NAPE with crimes because of our lawful environmental advocacy, and we have used public-spirited defense attorneys to exonerate us.
As part of our outreach to the public, other organizations, scholars and government officials, NAPE sponsors public forums on timely issues. For example, we held the 11 August 2011 “Political Café” on Uganda’s governance crisis, attended by nearly 200 participants, including government ministers.
We also lobby Members of Parliament and Ministry officials to influence legal and regulatory changes, providing them with authoritative studies by NAPE, other NGOs, and international agencies.
To read documents about democracy, corruption, accountability, click here for Library.
To read more about NAPE’s action agenda, click here.
