There are mixed reactions from members of the public who appeared before the legal and parliamentary affairs committee, to give views about the removal of the presidential age limit that is capped at 75 years under the 1995 Constitution.
In the overall 128-page report compiled by the committee headed by Jacob Oboth-Oboth and forwarded to the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga, proponents of the Bill that was moved by Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi, say that Uganda still needs President Museveni, with arguments that ‘the continuity of Article l02 (b) of the Constitution will threaten peace and tranquility both with in Uganda, East Africa and Africa as a continent and that it shall impact on development and slow down the achievements registered since l986’.
The now-contentious Bill was first presented to Parliament on October 3 by Magyezi and the forwarded to the committee for scrutiny, after which the eight members who drafted the Minority Report including Medard Lubega Ssegona (DP) , Abdu Katuntu (FDC), Wilfred Niwagaba (Independent), Mathias Mpuuga (DP), Monica Amoding NRM), Muhammad Nsereko (Independent), Ssemujju Nganda (FDC) and Anne Adeke Ebaju (Independent/Female Youth), wrote the Minority Report.
And in their report, the eight MPs pointed out to Speaker Kadaga that among other inconsistent issues, the age limit removal bill does not meet the some of the poignant qualifications as specified in the law.
According to the eight MPs, Magyezi’s Private Members Bill is in contravention of the Uganda Public Finance Management Act, 2015, in that it has financial and cost implications on government, inadvertently making reference to the Shs29 million that was recently given to each MP to ‘consult’ with the voters over the bill.
‘The Certificate of Financial Implication by the Minister of Finance upon which the Bill was premised is offensive to Section 76 of Uganda Public Finance Management Act, 2015,’ part of the Minority Report states.
It adds: ‘In microscopic event that the reference was being made to Constitutional (Amendment) (No-2) Bill of 2017, falsely indicates that the Bill has no possibility of inflicting any additional cost on MTEF, yet as minority we have observed that Parliament has already spent over l3 billion shillings that had not been budgeted previously for facilitating members to carry out consultations’.
The members also averred that the removal of term limits is supposed to further benefit President Yoweri Museveni, who has now been in power for 31 years but is not eligible to contest for presidency under the current constitutional dispensation that caps the age at 75 years.
‘The minority observe that the amendment is only brought for the convenience of the President (Museveni) just like the removal of term limits,’ they noted.
They added: ‘Guided by the above considerations, the minority members are of the opinion that repealing Article l02 (b) at the moment is very dangerous as it is being done for only one possible beneficiary, the current President’.
The members also take issue with their colleague who argue that the amendment is in fulfillment of the Supreme Court ruling that followed a petition filed by former presidential candidate John Patrick Amama Mbabazi, a former Prime Minister who contested against President Museveni in the 2016 elections.
‘The presentation of the Bill by the said Private Member cannot be in compliance of terms and directives of the Supreme Court rather it’s the actions of on overzealous member of the House who should not hide under the clock of that judgment.
‘Indeed the age limit was never on issue before Court. The critical issues before Court and contained in that judgment have deliberately been left out of this Bill’, the members further argued.
FULL COMMITTEE REPORT
Legal Com Report on the Constitution (Amendment)(No.2) Bill, 2017 (1)
Legal Com Report on the Constitution (Amendment)(No.2) Bill, 2017 (1)
