We examined the authority which Counsel told us she was fortified with. We
found that the Petitioners’ contention in that authority, Centre for Health
Human Rights and Development and 3 others Versus the Attorney
General, Petition No 16 of 2011, was that the State failed to provide basic
indispensable health items in Government facilities for expectant mothers and
that as a result of this failure, together with the imprudent and unethical
behaviour of health workers, the maternal mortality rate in Uganda was high.
It is basically this contention that the Court considered and held, inter alia, that
the Executive has the political and legal responsibility to determine, formulate
and implement Government policy and that the Court has no power to
determine or enforce its jurisdiction on matters that require analysis of the
health sector government policies, make a review of some and later on, their
implementation and that, if it did that, it would be substituting its discretion for
that of the executive granted to it by law.
We failed to find the connection between the facts of the authority cited and
the present Reference, where the contention is whether a Partner State
violated specific provisions of the Treaty.
It is clear to us that the provisions of Article 6 (d) of the Treaty are solemn and
serious governance obligations of immediate, constant and consistent conduct
by the Partner States. In our humble view, we know of no other provisions that
embody the sanctity of the integration process the way the above do.
37. In view of the foregoing, we find and hold that the Reference is properly before
the Court.
REFERENCE NO.5 OF 2011
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