The ‘First Reading’ of the controversial age limit amendment bill is to be held today, sources in Parliament have told the EagleOnline. According to the sources, the Constitution Amendment Bill No. 2 of 2017 seeks to make amendments in accordance with articles 259 and 262, among which are provisions for ‘eligibility requirements for a person to be elected as president or district chairperson under articles 102 (b) and 183 (b)’.
Principally, the mover of the motion, Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi premises the amendment on the Supreme Court ruling in Amama Mbabazi vs Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General in Presidential Petition No.1 of 2016.
In the same Bill the mover, through a Memorandum to Parliament, seeks to amend Part II of Chapter Seven, Article 104 of the Constitution, by substituting clause 2,3 and 6, which expressly provide for a presidential petition to be lodged in the Supreme Court within 15 days after declaration of election results; for the Supreme Court to determine the petition ‘not later than 45 days from the date of petition filing and, the holding of fresh elections within 60 days if a presidential election is annulled.
The mover also seeks to amend Part III of Chapter Eleven on Local Government, by repealing Article 183(2)(b), in respect to the eligibility requirements of a District Chairperson.
The age limit removal bill, said by many to be aimed at perpetuating President Museveni’s rule, has caused anxiety in the populace, with protagonists and antagonists in the Parliament exchanging blows last week.
And, following the scuffles, the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga suspended 24 opposition MPs, and the State Minister of Water Ronald Kibuule, who allegedly sneaked a gun into Parliament in contravention of the parliamentary rules.
Meanwhile, the scuffles came to a crescendo when plain-clothed security personnel said to be members of the Special Forces Command (SFC), the elite presidential guard, stormed Parliament and roughed up opposition MPs, who were later detained in different places, ostensibly on the orders of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) General Kale Kayihura.
Opponents of the Bill say that President Museveni, who has been in power for 31 years, is a silent ‘pusher’ of constitutional amendments that are aimed at extending his reign, beginning with the removal of ‘Term Limits’ in 2005.
They now argue that an amendment to Article 102(b) will see Mr. Museveni, who rode to power partly by criticizing his predecessors like Idi Amin and Dr. Apollo Milton Obote for ‘overstaying in power’, ‘rule for life’.
Prominent among the proponents of the Bill is State Minister for Investment Evelyn Anite, Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi, his Arua Municipality counterpart Ibrahim Abiriga, National Resistance Movement (NRM) Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa Sentamu, while all the opposition MPs are against any amendments to Article 102(b) of the Constitution.
By press time it was not possible to get comment from the parliamentary authorities about the First Reading.
