Uganda Court lifts ban on reflexologists

TV and radio stations in Uganda are awash with adverts of reflexology centres. Ugandans are covertly being bombarded with the view that reflexology is the solution to all health problems. ‘Doctors’ are stealthily enticing Ugandans to consider reflexology. It is certainly not wrong to want to be healthy; and we know that many ‘natural’ or alternative remedies are effective and legitimate for certain problems. But when a practice enters into the realm of the occult, Christians are forbidden from taking part. Dr David Sneed lists eight possible dangers of alternative health therapies such as reflexology: Failure to diagnose, failure to treat, emotional harm, wasted money, physical threats, toxic effects, diverted resources, and loss of reality. But what exactly is reflexology? 

Many reflexologists work on the occultic principle that the body has an energy field that can be manipulated. They call it “life force.” William Fitzgerald XE “Fitzgerald, William” , who invented modern reflexology in 1913, called it “bioelectric energy.” He believed that 10 vertical zones of this energy called meridians run through the body, and by rubbing one part of the foot the practitioner can supposedly manipulate the organs and bones and tissues in that particular zone. Mildred Carter says, “By massaging reflexes ... you send a healing force to all parts of the body by opening up closed electrical lines that have shut off the universal life force.” She also says that reflexology is “the healing miracle of the new age we are entering” . Many reflexologists use the New Age technique of visualisation. The Holistic Health Handbook instructs the practitioner to “visualise yourself as being a channel for healing energy that flows through your hands.” Eunice Ingham, a disciple of Fitzgerald, describes reflexology as “opening the blocked meridians and channeling the healing power through visualisation” It is obvious that reflexology is based on occultic principles and should be avoided by Christians.

http://www.monitor.co.ug/OpEd/Letters/-/806314/900976/-/2f6nmtz/-/index.html

 

Reflexologists with their lawyers at court after winning the case. Photo by Godfrey Kimono

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FIRST READ:

Ugandan Christians are not sensitised about reflexology

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2010/04/ugandan-christians-are-not-sensitised.html

Uganda Government bans reflexology

http://watchmanafrica.blogspot.com/2011/03/uganda-government-bans-reflexology.html

Court lifts ban on reflexologists

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/642049-court-lifts-ban-on-reflexologists.html

Publish Date: Apr 25, 2013

By Andante Okanya  

Following a two year ban, the Commercial Court has given reflexology practitioners a green light to resume their activities, quashing the ban imposed on reflexology activities by the then health minister Dr Stephen Mallinga (now deceased) in March 2011.

Justice Geoffrey on Thursday ruled that the ban was based on procedural error. Kiryabwire noted that although the minister acted in public interest, the practitioners were not given chance to defend themselves prior to the ban.

"It is apparent that the council did not share their findings with the reflexologists. I find that the applicants were not given a right to defend themselves, which was wrong," the judge said.

The practitioners were also awarded for costs incurred. The ruling implies that the practitioners can resume their activities including advertisements in the media which had previously been halted.

Reflexology is the application of appropriate pressure to specific points and areas on the feet, hands, or ears.

Reflexologists believe that these areas and reflex points correspond to different body organs and systems, and that pressing them has a beneficial effect on the organs and person's general health.

The case arose on March 24 2011, when the reflexologists filed an application for judicial review at the court in protest at the ban, contending that Government never accorded them a hearing before their activities were outlawed.

The umbrella body Uganda Reflexologists Association of Uganda, together with Alleluia Reflexology Health Solution and Nutrition Centre Limited, filed the case.

Lawyers Dennis Sembuya, and Isaac Kimaze who heads regional consultancy Legal Brains Trust, representing the reflexologists were present at the ruling. The Attorney General was not represented at the ruling.

Judicial review is conducted by the High Court in relation to proceedings plus decisions taken by subordinate courts and inferior tribunals or bodies. The Commercial Court is a division of the High Court.

The ban was premised on an investigation which showed that reflexology centres endangered patients' lives, as most lacked training and operational standards.

The Uganda medical and dental practitioners' council, nurses and midwives council, allied health professionals council and the pharmacy council, compiled the report.

The reflexology lawyers said they would compute costs suffered by their clients, then file a bill of costs.

Reflexology facilities must reopen – court

http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Reflexology-facilities-must-reopen---court/-/688334/1758572/-/ch7btez/-/index.html

In Summary

High Court judge says the errant reflexology centres should have been punished individually.

Reflexology practitioners yesterday got a smile on their faces after court directed them to resume their business.

This was after the closure of reflexology centres and banning of their advertisements in the country for more than two years.

Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire of the Commercial Division of the High Court, while giving his ruling, said when the minister was taking the decision to close the reflexology centres, applicants (reflexology practitioners) were not given the right to be heard.

The ban

The then minister of Health, Stephen Mallinga, who passed on recently, announced that his ministry had banned reflexology practice in the country until further review.

In a press statement, he called for the closure of all reflexology centres, banned their adverts in both print and broadcast media and called upon Kampala City Council to stop licensing the facilities.

“It was an irrationally procedural error, each reflexology centre would have been singled out individually and those that crossed the line into the medical would have been criminally charged because they are not doctors,” Justice Kiryabwire ruled.

The government announced the closure of the reflexology centres in March 2011, leading to the filing of a case by the practitioners under their umbrella body Reflexologists Association of Uganda and Alleluia Reflexology Health Solution and Nutrition Centre.
They argued that the government did not consult them before the order of their closure was made.

The judge also ordered government to pay costs of the suit.

Reflexology is an alternative medicine involving the physical act of applying pressure to the feet

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Reflexology court battle rages on

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/632045-reflexology-court-battle-rages-on.html

Publish Date: Jun 17, 2012

By Andante Okanya   

Government's chief legal advisor the Attorney General(AG) and the aggrieved reflexology practitioners  whose activities were banned last year, are scheduled to lock horns  in a court on June 27after the Health ministry declined to consent with the aggrieved.

Appearing  at the Commercial Court in Kampala, the AG's representative principal state attorney Wanyama Kodoli, said the ministry had instructed the AG to defend the ban.

"The ministry of Health in a letter by the permanent secretary dated December 7, 2011, said we should defend the case. The respondents oppose the application, that it is misconceived," Kodolo said

The parties to the case were in court presided over by Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire. The reflexologists were represented by Denis Sembuya. He said he was ready for the hearing, as scheduled.

The case arose on March 24  last year, when the reflexologists filed an application for judicial review at the court in protest at the ban, contending that Government never consulted them before the order was made.The other respondent in the application is the then Health minister Steven Mallinga.

The ban by the ministry was based on an investigation which indicated that reflexology centres posed a risk to the patients’ lives since most of them lack training and did not comply with operational standards.

The report was compiled by the Uganda medical and dental practitioners’ council, nurses and midwives council, allied health professionals council and the pharmacy council.

The umbrella body Uganda Reflexologists Association of Uganda, together with Alleluia Reflexology Health Solution and Nutrition Centre Limited, filed the application.

Judicial review is conducted by the High Court in relation to proceedings plus decisions taken by subordinate courts and inferior tribunals or bodies. The Commercial Court is a division of the High Court.

Prior, the reflexologists submitted proposals to the ministry, on how to regulate their activities but their efforts were in vain. Quizzed by the judge on September 7 last year, why the ministry had discarded the reflexologists' proposals without consideration, the registrar of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council Dr. Katumba Ssentongo, said a bill on complimentary medicine regulation was in the offing.

Ssentongo explained that the ministry was finalising a policy drafted in 2009, and forwarded to the parliamentary counsel for bill preparation.

But Justice Kiryabwire said court cannot wait for the bill to be passed to hear the case. He noted that passing of bills in parliament usually takes long.

“We aren’t mandated to try the law of the future. We can only deal with the law that has been passed. No court can wait for a bill. That would be bad,” the judge noted.

Reflexology is an alternative medicine involving the physical act of applying pressure to the feet, hands, or ears with specific thumb, finger, and hand techniques without the use of oil or lotion.