Ministers Butiime, Mutuuzo Divided over Museums Bill

Minister of Tourism, Tom Butiime and State Minister for Gender and Culture, Peace Mutuuzo are divided over some of the clauses on the Museums and Monument Bill, 2022.

The Museums and Monument Bill, 2022 that was tabled in July 2022 among others seeks to protect cultural and natural heritage resources and the environment, strengthen and provide set up of institutional structure for effective management of the museums and monuments and to prohibit illicit trafficking of protected objects and to promote local content of cultural and natural heritage.

During a joint meeting with the Committee on Trade, Tourism and Industry on Thursday, minister Mutuuzo expressed reservations on some of the clauses that she demanded should be recast and others expunged. Mutuuzo made several proposals and additional clauses on the bill that include; a new clause to be introduced on the Museums and Monument Bill, 2022 to authorise cities and municipalities to establish public museums.

Others are; new clause to provide for the decentralisation of Uganda Museum by providing the creation of branches in the different regions of the country.

“Therefore, we should add a clause that empowers the Minister to establish branches of Uganda Museum in different parts of Uganda with the same functions of Uganda Museum in that region,” she said.

Mutuuzo also wants clause 13 (1) of the bill recast with a justification that it does not favour museum development by private persons. Clause 13(1) of the Bill states that “a person shall not establish or develop a museum in Uganda without licence or declaration issued in accordance with this Act.”

“The law should not limit private initiatives of establishing private museums by individuals not for profit by making it difficult to start a private museum in private homes or spaces,” she said, adding that prohibition and licensing should only be applied to commercial and public museums where strict regulation is required. Currently, Uganda has only four private museums and 30 community museums.

The minister further demanded that the bill provides a clear interpretation of roles of the Ministry of Gender and Culture and also re-define tangible and intangible cultural heritage that fall under the Tourism ministry and Gender ministry respectively.

However, the Minister of Tourism, Hon Tom Butiime was a little uncomfortable with Hon Mutuuzo’s submissions saying she should have made such proposals at cabinet level during the drafting of the principles of the Bill.

“The principles of the bill came to cabinet and the minister [Mutuuzo] was there. I would have loved if she had raised these matters in cabinet before it came to Parliament,” Butiime said. Nonetheless, he pledged to work together with the ministry of gender to study and reconcile the new proposals and come up with a harmonized position.

“We shall sit down [with the minister of gender], study and reconcile those thin lines and come back with a harmonized position,” Butiime said.