FDC Raises Alarm Over 'Contradictions' in Government Position On Sovereignty Bill

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has voiced significant apprehension over the government's handling of the Protection of Sovereignty Bill, 2026. Party President Patrick Oboi Amuriat highlighted the widespread public disapproval encountered during parliamentary committee consultations, noting that nearly all witnesses opposed the bill. This broad consensus against the legislation, he asserted, underscores a critical disconnect between the government's proposed law and the will of the Ugandan people.

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We were pleased by Ugandans who came in large numbers to oppose this bill. Almost everyone who appeared in the committee had no views different from ours.

A central point of contention for the FDC is President Yoweri Museveni's recent public statement suggesting the bill before Parliament is not the one he initiated. Amuriat framed this as a grave governance issue, raising questions about accountability and the integrity of the legislative process. He demanded clarity on who distorted the bill and who authorized its tabling in its current form, implying a breakdown within the Attorney General's office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or the Cabinet.

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Mr. Museveni has now publicly declared that the Bill before Parliament 'is not the Bill he initiated.' If it is true that the Bill that was tabled in Parliament is not what he sanctioned, then this signals a very big problem for which a number of questions can be asked.

Furthermore, Amuriat interpreted the President's distancing from the bill as a direct vote of no confidence in his own legal advisors and drafting teams. He stressed that such internal disagreements should be managed through established institutional channels, not public pronouncements, especially via social media. The FDC leader commended the public's unified voice during the consultations, seeing it as a powerful demonstration of civic engagement that successfully influenced the legislative discourse.

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Who distorted the Bill? Who authorised its tabling in its current form? Who in the Attorney General's office, in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or in Cabinet is responsible for presenting to Parliament and the entire nation with a piece of legislation that its own initiator now disowns?