The Sovereignty Bill Is Decoy Politics

The Sovereignty Bill has caused a lot of "noise" from Ugandans in the last few months, according to President Museveni, and he came out, unsurprisingly, yesterday to address the noise makers.

First, i personally think this was the worst bill to ever be tabled in parliament since we got independence. The drafters should be ashamed of themselves.

To begin with, laws should always be worded - in particular, their titles - with precision. So much so that even the title is misleading. Uganda, as any other African country, is simply not sovereign; it is only partly so. Consequently, the title should have referred to the “protection of remaining sovereignty” or so, obviously.

The idea of the sovereignty for any Africa country at the moment is quite similar to the idea of the virginity of a prostitute. It is gone, the good news being that it can be restored. For a country, you need to leave the EAC,AU, UN, etc , for a prostitute a clever surgeon can do it. The second is much easier and cheaper, though.

So,selling the Bill with protecting Uganda's sovereignty is a brainwashing lie, relying on the general ignorance of the public.

The vulgar definition of sovereignty is the absence of external judgment. When someone executes some horrible decision, he might say," I am the sovereign to make that." All that is really said is that he does not recognize any constraint on what he decides.

Without going into details of the Bill (it is not worth it), basically, it is mostly about the creation of an oppressed Ugandan diaspora that's not allowed to criticise the centres of power in Uganda. The Bill would give the government the powers to name and shame, control, and punish individuals, NGOs, and perhaps even media outlets that accept financial support from beyond state borders.

In real terms, it is supposed to produce a political scene where any opposition force’s financial muscle is limited to the normative support received from the government, based on election results.

The Bill was categorising Ugandans abroad as " foreigners." I can only compare this to the Jim Crow laws in the US segregated South. These laws governed where Black People could enter, where they could sit, where they could eat. They did everything they could to make sure Black people knew that their government considered them inferior people. A perfect example of very bad laws that severely impact people’s lives.

The question of whether a particular law is a bad law is principally one of political judgments, and I thought the Sovereignty Bill, in its original wording, was a bad one.A good law is stable. It doesn't continuously change. A good law respects basic human rights such as property ownership, right to life, right to shelter, right to citizenship, right to send and receive money, food, etc.

I have failed to understand the real intentions of the sovereignty bill because it's the worst bill ever tabled in parliament.

One school of thought is that it was targeting Baganda abroad. Apparently, Museveni made life difficult for them, and they found a way to better themselves abroad. So, he wants to suffocate them from abroad and make sure they forget about their country of origin.

Another school of thought is that Museveni just wanted something to keep Ugandans busy after the elections as he prepares for his swearing in this month.

I'm going with the second school of thought because It has indeed worked. Few people have been talking about the elections in the last few months. The first school of thought doesn't factor in non-Baganda abroad, also suffering in the same way as Baganda.

Museveni is arguably the best strategist Uganda has ever had. He can even make you support someone against him he created himself. The public is so easily fooled by politicians severally.

Firstly, the term “public” to be understood properly. For politicians, the term "public" means voters, and they are very clear on this. Politicians spend their entire life in understanding voters. It may not be an exaggeration to say that politicians know voters more than voters know about themselves. Politicians know how to play the proper card, based on the context, emotion, and time. This tact will not be taught in schools, colleges, or universities. This will come like a god given skill.

Constitutional Manoeuvring is part of decoy politics. For example,Canada’s path to sovereignty was unusual at the time - no revolutions, no violence, and no civil wars. They asked for sovereignty, and the UK gave it to them, but during the patriation of the Canadian Constitution, the government introduced placeholders like Sections 25 and 35 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. These gave the appearance of recognizing Indigenous rights while delaying their definition, allowing the state to avoid immediate legal obligations.

Similarly, i dont think Museveni expected the Sovereignty Bill to be passed in its original format, as he has come out to explain, but he has arguably benefited from the situation. He has come out as a hero who stopped a bad law, and he has also made Ugandans forget about their complaints in the Feb 2026 presidential elections.

The fact is that most of us have been trained to be easily fooled.We are all born with intuition that can steer us clear of bad situations. It is part of our innate survival instincts. Well done, Museveni! Salute!

Abbey .K. Semuwemba