Sovereignty Without Law: When Power in Uganda Can No Longer Justify Itself
Sovereignty is not merely the possession of power; it is the legitimate exercise of authority within a legal order. In constitutional democracies, sovereignty is expressed through adherence to the law, not its suspension. When those in power act outside the law, sovereignty is not strengthened; it is hollowed out. Law is the language through which sovereign authority explains, restrains, and justifies itself. Where the state cannot account for its actions in law, it ceases to act as a sovereign governed by consent and becomes a coercive apparatus sustained by fear.
The Constitution vests sovereignty in the people, exercised through institutions established by law. The protection and faithful implementation of laws is therefore not a technical obligation; it is the core mechanism through which sovereignty is preserved. Persistent lawlessness by state actors amounts to an abdication of sovereign responsibility and a rupture in the social contract.
Article 99 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda vests executive authority in the President, to be exercised in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of Uganda. This provision does not grant unfettered power; it constitutionalizes restraint. Presidential authority is derivative, not absolute, it flows from the Constitution and is bounded by it. Critically, Article 99 does not authorize parallel command structures, informal security units, or actions outside established legal framework. Illegal and extra judicial acts represent executive action divorced from constitutional legitimacy, reducing presidential authority from lawful command to raw coercion.
Since 2020, Uganda has witnessed a disturbing pattern of military abductions, illegal detentions and torture: These practices violate multiple constitutional guarantees, including the right to personal liberty, the right to a fair hearing, and the absolute prohibition against torture.
What makes this crisis particularly grave is not only the frequency of violations, but the state’s inability or refusal to justify them within the law. Courts have repeatedly ordered the production of detainees; security agencies have ignored these orders with impunity. This systematic disregard for judicial authority signals a breakdown of constitutional governance and the emergence of a security state operating outside the law.
Under international law, torture is not merely an abuse of power; it is one of the gravest international crimes. When committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, torture constitutes a crime against humanity under the International Criminal Court framework and the Rome Statute. By tolerating or normalizing torture, a state exposes its officials to international criminal liability and erodes its standing in the community of nations.
True sovereignty depends on the state’s ability to govern through law. When law is replaced by force, sovereignty is not defended, it is cannibalized. A state that terrorizes its own citizens loses moral authority, institutional coherence, and international credibility. In Uganda’s case, continued abductions and torture weaken the very sovereignty the state purports to protect, transforming constitutional authority into discretionary violence.
Possible remedies lie in the following actions: immediate end to illegal detentions; reasserting judicial authority; independent investigations and prosecutions of perpetrators and leadership recommitment to constitutionalism.
Sovereignty cannot survive where power is exercised without legal justification. The persistence of abductions and torture reflects not strength, but constitutional decay. Restoring sovereignty requires a return to lawful authority, where every exercise of power can be explained, defended, and constrained by law. Anything less is not sovereignty, but lawlessness clothed in the language of the state.
I congratulate the University of Ghana’s School of Performing Arts for that masterful reenactment of the transatlantic enslavement at the Osu Castle during the Next Steps Juneteenth commemoration.
Their brilliant performance is receiving wide international acclaim with invitations already pouring in from multiple countries including Barbados, Jamaica and the US.
Really proud of Ghana’s outstanding diverse talents.
May I wish all our hardworking and caring men a Happy Father’s Day.