The court also declared that the practice of automatically enrolling recruits and deducting money from their salaries without consent violates the constitutional right to freedom of association.
“A declaration is hereby issued that all serving police officers have a right to freedom of association, including the freedom to join or to decline to join any association of their own choosing,” the court ruled.
The landmark ruling delivered on Wednesday stemmed from a suit by lawyer Steven Kalali against the police’s Exodus Sacco and the Attorney General in which he challenged the mandatory membership.
In his case, Kalali told court that since 2015, newly recruited police officers graduating from Kabalye Police Training School had automatically become members of Exodus SACCO, with monthly deductions ranging between approximately Shs20,000 and Shs50,000 made directly from their salaries despite having no meaningful opportunity to decline membership or exit the cooperative.
He also challenged the legality of the SACCO's operations, arguing that it had been accepting deposits and issuing loans without obtaining the licence required under the Tier 4 Microfinance Institutions and Money Lenders Act, 2016.
In his ruling, Judge Bonny Isaac Teko of the Civil Division of the High Court ruled that forcing police officers to be part of the Exodus sacco was against their right to freedom of association.
He said Article 29(1)(e) of the Constitution guarantees to every person the right to freedom of association, including the freedom to form and join associations or unions, including trade unions and other civic organisations, for the protection of their interests.
“ There is no exception in the Constitution excluding serving members of the Uganda Police Force from the enjoyment of this right, save to the extent that Parliament may, by law, impose reasonable and demonstrably justifiable restrictions in the interests of matters such as defence, public safety or public order, in accordance with Article 43 of the Constitution. No such restriction specific to police officers has been placed before this Court,” the judge ruled.
The court therefore ruled that no evidence has been presented to show that police officers recruited since 2015 into the force applied for an voluntarily consented to becoming members of the police Exodus sacco but rather were forced to join.
The judge said this was illegal.
"The involuntary recruitment of members of the Uganda Police Force, from the 2015 (19th) intake to date, into the membership of the 2nd Respondent, without their free, express and documented consent, violates their right to freedom of association under Article 29(1)(e) of the Constitution."
The judge also declared unlawful the salary deductions made from affected officers to finance Sacco contributions where no informed consent had been obtained.
"The monthly deductions made from the salaries of the affected officers as contributions to the 2nd Respondent, in the absence of proven free and informed consent, are unlawful."
The court additionally ruled that Exodus Sacco has been operating illegally by providing financial services without the licence required under the Tier 4 Microfinance Institutions and Money Lenders Act.
"The operation of the 2nd Respondent's financial services business(Exodus sacco) without a licence from the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority or Bank of Uganda, as applicable, is illegal and in contravention of the Tier 4 Microfinance Institutions and Money Lenders Act, 2016."
As part of the orders, the court directed Exodus SACCO to regularise the membership of all affected officers within six months by giving each officer a documented opportunity to either remain a member or exit the SACCO without penalty.
The ruling further requires the SACCO to allow officers who choose to leave to access their accumulated savings and any accrued dividends.
The court also ordered the SACCO to finalise its pending application for an operating licence within six months.
Should it fail to obtain the licence, it must stop accepting new deposits and issuing new loans, although it may continue servicing existing loans and maintaining accounts for members who choose to remain.
To ensure compliance, the Registrar of Co-operatives was directed to conduct a comprehensive audit of the SACCO's membership records and financial accounts covering officers recruited from the 2015 intake onwards and report back to the court within nine months.
In addition, the Attorney General was directed to issue guidance to the Uganda Police Force and Exodus SACCO to ensure that no serving officer is recruited into the SACCO or subjected to salary deductions unless they have provided documented, free and informed consent.
The court also awarded costs of the application to the applicant.