Honourable minister, it was reported that on February 13, 2025, on the floor of Parliament, that you withdrew the Forensic Evidence Bill, 2024. The reason you gave for taking this action was that after extensive consultations it had become obvious that some aspects of the Bill needed to be reviewed and refined. You are reported to have told the House that the Bill was not dead but had only been withdrawn to make improvements.
On May 16, 2025 your ministry published The Forensic and Scientific Analytical Services Bill, 2025 in the Uganda Gazette. This is understood to be the revised version of the Forensic Evidence Bill, 2024. The Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs of the Parliament of Uganda has since then invited various stakeholders to present their reviews on the revised Bill. It was reported by the Parliamentary Watch that on September 24 2025, you asked Parliament, during a harmonisation meeting with the Committee, not to reject this Bill.
I have had time to scrutinise this Bill and these are some of my observations and comments: Forensic services are crucial in justice delivery and are provided by, among others, the Uganda Police Force, the Ministry of Health and the Government Analytical Laboratory. These sectors technically play distinct roles. No single law can harmonise their roles and responsibilities. The Forensic and Scientific Analytical Services Bill 2025 is basically about the services provided by the government analytical laboratory, to the exclusion of the services offered by other stakeholders. However, the Bill negatively impacts on the services provided by the Uganda Police Force, whose constitutional mandate it is to investigate crime and also the forensic services provided by the Ministry of Health.
The framers of the Forensic and Scientific Analytical Services Bill, 2025 did not improve on the Forensic Evidence Bill 2024; they did not address any of the major concerns that the stakeholders raised in regard to the preceding Bill. An important recommendation was the creation of an independent regulatory body, as is in other countries. Uganda’s most urgent need is of an independent body, by law established, to regulate and oversee the forensic services offered by the key stakeholders.
Such a body will provide regulatory oversight to the forensic services of the police, the Ministry of Health and the Government Analytical Laboratory. The major issues in forensic service delivery in Uganda today include credibility of our results, capacity building, logistical challenges and coordination of the services. The Forensic and Scientific Analytical Services Bill 2025 has not and will not address these endemic challenges. The root causes of these poor services have been interrogated even before such a Bill was drafted. Much as a hungry man needs food, poisoned food will drive him faster to his grave. The Bill will be a disservice to forensic services in the country. It is bound to be a redundant law if passed.