I spent the better part of the night watching proceedings of the United States House of Representatives, as they debated and voted to impeach President Donald Trump. I kept asking myself one question- what if this was Uganda? Because indeed, just like the US Constitution, Article 107 of our Constitution also provides for the removal of a President by Parliament on account of abuse of office, misconduct, or incapacity to perform the functions of President.

For starters, the Representative (read MP) who took the lead in the impeachment process (Rep. Adam Schiff) would have long been kidnapped and kept somewhere in a safe house.

 

Then, the office where the articles of impeachment were being prepared from would have been broken into and the documents and computers ‘stolen’. Enanga would issue a statement accusing unknown people for carrying out the raid. He would promise investigations which would never see light of day.

Of course the private residences of the Representatives taking lead would be attacked in the night. Grenades and other explosives would be hurled at their houses to send a very clear message.

The President would make an address- probably dressed in military fatigues. He would send a strong warning to the MPs not to joke with the blood of those who died in the Luwero triangle. He would say something like- “No one will be allowed to jeopardise the gains of our revolution.” He would remind the nation that these MPs are not elected to handle issues related to the destiny of the country. He would tell them to go and deal with village issues.

At the height of it all, the MPs would be summoned in state house and each given hundreds of millions of shillings to frustrate the move to remove the President.

The Representatives who refuse to get the money and insist of leading the charge would be accused of one offence or another. The DPP would sanction charges of corruption, or rape or terrorism against them. Some who have never held a gun would be shocked for CID officers to visit their houses and discover machine guns under their pillows or in their ceilings.

Ofwono Opondo would come out and accuse the specific MPs of being under the influence of foreigners. He would appear with some documents on Television and assure the public that the Representatives have been paid in dollars to bring the impeachment proceedings. He would rally the population to be patriotic and support the President against foreign interference in the internal workings of the country.

Andrew Mwenda on his part would come out to explain how much impeachment proceedings would take our booming economy many years back. He would say that tourists will not come to Uganda. He would throw around statistics to show that this is a process that is very dangerous to the nation.

If the MPs fail to get the message, a judge or group of judges would sit in Kampala, even if it means 8:00pm in the night. They would declare the proceedings of Parliament illegal for one reason or another.

Groups of young men and women, evidently from some villages would appear in Kampala holding placards, under the guard of police, declaring undying love for the President and hurling curses against the MPs who think that a man who fought hard to liberate us would go by mere votes in parliament. They would ask the MPs to go to the bush if they want to remove the President. As expected, if any group of Ugandans decided to protest in solidarity with the pro-impeachment MPs, they would be rounded up, arrested, tortured or even killed.

If by miracle the motion came to the House, the House would be surrounded by the military. Police and military trucks would be stationed on all roads leading to the House. On the day of the debate, Military choppers would be seen hovering over the House- once again to send a clear message. And the troublesome Representatives would be plucked out of the chambers- one by one.

I am not saying that the American process is perfect. I am only saying that Uganda should be true to what has been written in its Constitution. There is everything to gain through adhering to the rule of law.