Uganda 1995 Constitution (reviewed 2017)

CHAPTER 1. THE CONSTITUTION

1. Sovereignty of the people

1. All power belongs to the people who shall exercise their sovereignty in accordance with this Constitution.
2. Without limiting the effect of clause (1) of this article, all authority in the State emanates from the people of Uganda; and the people shall be governed through their will and consent.
3. All power and authority of Government and its organs derive from this Constitution, which in turn derives its authority from the people who consent to be governed in accordance with this Constitution.
4. The people shall express their will and consent on who shall govern them and how they should be governed, through regular, free and fair elections of their representatives or through referenda.

2. Supremacy of the Constitution

1. This Constitution is the supreme law of Uganda and shall have binding force on all authorities and persons throughout Uganda.
2. If any other law or any custom is inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail, and that other law or custom shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void.

3. Defence of the Constitution

1. It is prohibited for any person or group of persons to take or retain control of the Government of Uganda, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
2. Any person who, singly or in concert with others, by any violent or other unlawful means, suspends, overthrows, abrogates or amends this Constitution or any part of it or attempts to do any such act, commits the offence of treason and shall be punished according to law.
3. This Constitution shall not lose its force and effect even where its observance is interrupted by a government established by the force of arms; and in any case, as soon as the people recover their liberty, its observance shall be re-established and all persons who have taken part in any rebellion or other activity which resulted in the interruption of the observance, shall be tried in accordance with this Constitution and other laws consistent with it.
4. All citizens of Uganda shall have the right and duty at all times-
   1. to defend this Constitution, and in particular, to resist any person or group of persons seeking to overthrow the established constitutional order; and
   2. to do all in their power to restore this Constitution after it has been suspended, overthrown, abrogated or amended contrary to its provisions.
5. Any person or group of persons who, as required by clause (4) of this article, resists the suspension, overthrow, abrogation or amendment of this Constitution commits no offence.
6. Where a person referred to in clause (5) of this article is punished for any act done under that clause, the punishment shall, on the restoration of this Constitution, be considered void from the time it was imposed and that person shall be taken to be absolved from all liabilities arising out of the punishment.

4. Promotion of public awareness of Constitution

The State shall promote public awareness of this Constitution by-

1. translating it into Ugandan languages and disseminating it as widely as possible; and
2. providing for the teaching of the Constitution in all educational institutions and armed forces training institutions and regularly transmitting and publishing programmes through the media generally.