Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa has urged the Attorney General to thoroughly review and provide legal advice on all international treaties and agreements before they are presented to Cabinet and Parliament for consideration.
Tayebwa said greater scrutiny is necessary to ensure that Uganda does not enter into international commitments containing provisions that conflict with the country’s laws or national interests.
He cited the Samoa Agreement, saying concerns raised by lawmakers prompted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to revisit aspects of the agreement.
“Those treaties are so detailed and have a lot of annexes, tricky language, and are written in small letters,” Tayebwa said. He claimed that an earlier draft of the Samoa Agreement contained provisions relating to abortion funding and LGBTQI issues that raised concerns among Ugandan legislators.
Tayebwa commended legislators, including Samuel Opio, Theodore Ssekikubo and the late Cecilia Ogwal, for scrutinising the agreement and challenging clauses they believed were not in Uganda’s interests.
He recalled encountering the document during a visit to Brussels and subsequently contacting government officials about it.
“When I reached Brussels, I was confronted with that document which I read overnight. I called my minister and asked him if he agreed to it. I called the Attorney General who told me he had never seen it,” Tayebwa said.
He consequently urged the Attorney General to take a more active role in treaty negotiations to prevent government officials from committing Uganda internationally without adequate legal scrutiny.
Tayebwa also cited Rule 41 of Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, which requires the minister responsible for treaties, protocols and international agreements to table such instruments before Parliament within 90 working days after they have been concluded or signed.
He called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide Parliament with regular reports on Uganda’s international commitments, including information about fees paid to international organisations and the benefits the country receives from its membership.
The Deputy Speaker made the remarks while chairing a plenary sitting on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, during which State Minister for Foreign Affairs and acting Foreign Affairs Minister Haruna Kasolo tabled several treaties, protocols and international agreements ratified or acceded to by Uganda between 2021 and 2025.
The documents included the World Intellectual Property Organisation Copyright Treaty, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, the Treaty for the Establishment of the African Medicines Agency and the East African Community Protocol on Information and Communications Technology Networks.
Kassanda County North MP Patrick Nsamba called for the agreements to undergo further parliamentary scrutiny, proposing that they be referred to the relevant committees.
Tayebwa subsequently directed Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs to examine the relevant treaties, protocols and agreements and report back to the House within 45 days.
The Deputy Speaker also encouraged MPs participating in international delegations to coordinate closely with Uganda’s missions abroad to ensure that the country’s position is properly represented during international conferences and negotiations.
