President Yoweri Museveni has castigated Ugandans debating the removal of age limit, saying they are idlers who lack what to do.

“Those debating age limit, what are you debating? Who has brought that proposal? Don’t waste time with people who don’t have what to do,” Mr. Museveni was quoted as saying while addressing a press conference at State House, Entebbe.

Interestingly, the President’s counsel came in the wake of an earlier meeting held at Kati Kati Restaurant today, convened by National Resistance Movement (NRM) party stalwarts David Mafabi, the Senior Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs; and MPs Simeo Nsubuga and Colonel (rtd) Fred Mwesigye of Kassanda South and Nyabushozi, respectively.

In its deliberations the group urged the NRM party leadership to mobilise members and to initiate ‘consultations’ on a number of issues including ‘whether or not any Ugandan who is 18 years and above should be disqualified from being President of the Republic of Uganda; whether or not term limits should be simultaneously restored and, whether or not a second Chamber of Parliament should be created’.

By press time it was not possible to establish whether the party had sanctioned the Kati Kati meeting.

Meanwhile, the removal of the age limit cap has generated heightened public debate, with sections of Ugandans taking to social media to argue for or against the idea.

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Opposition Chief Whip Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda has protested the proposal to have the Prime Minister’s Question Time changed from Wednesday to Thursday, warning President Yoweri Museveni against casually handling state affairs.

Ssemujju’s remarks followed a proposal tabled on the floor of Parliament by Ruth Nankabirwa, the Government Chief Whip, to change the Prime Minister’s question time from Wednesday to Thursday.

“The Head of State chose Wednesday to be Cabinet Day and when we sit in Entebbe, we find it very difficult to catch up with Parliament yet we want the Prime Minister to be here on time to answer questions. So, it is a humble request that we change from Wednesday to Thursday so that the Prime Minister can be here,” Nankabirwa said.

But Ssemujju dubbed Nankabirwa’s request as ‘ridicule to Parliament’ and wondered why President Museveni ‘is afraid of sitting in his office at Twin Towers’, but “keeps on holding cabinet meetings at his residence in Rwakitura and State House-Entebbe.”

Further, Ssemujju wondered if Parliament business would come to a standstill if Museveni woke up one day and demanded to have cabinet meetings be held at his country home in Rwakitura.

“Why doesn’t the President want to sit in President’s Office to execute work (of the President’s Office), he even has offices here. This is a casual way of handling state matters that you take them to your residence all the time,” The Kira Municipality MP said.

Ssemujju added: “Now, instead of going to his residence to rest, he is taking there cabinet meetings. I want to invite this Parliament to reject the justification.”

The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) member pleaded with MPs to reject the justification fronted by Government, warning that approval of the proposal based on Nankabirwa’s assertions would be tantamount to Parliament is institutionalizing the residence of the President as an office.

“I was looking at the practical bit of it; the Chief Whip saying they delay there, sometimes the meetings take long. But to come here and tell Parliament to institutionalize the residence of the President as sitting place of cabinet; we have a cabinet library here where meetings have been historically taking,” Ssemujju charged.

He demanded to have the Government Chief Whip withdraw the particular justification, terming it a ridicule to Parliament and asking MPs to deal with the matter on its own merit.

But when the question was put across, the MPs voted to have the Rules and Procedures amended, paying a deaf ear to Ssemujju’s arguments.

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In what may be described as the ‘first baby steps’ to vouch for the removal of the age limit cap by supporters of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), a group said to comprise ‘diverse members of the Movement’ has released a raft of declarations to support their inclinations.

According to the unsigned document seen by The EagleOnline and released July 18, among the issues of focus for the group is the debate on ‘land rights under Article 26 of the Uganda Constitution and the age of persons qualified to contest for President of Uganda as provided in Article 102 (b) of the Uganda Constitution’.

The group that met at Kati Kati restaurant in Kampala also charged that the opposition has resorted to ‘arm-twisting’ tactics to subvert would-be debate on matters of national importance.

‘Some some members of the opposition are addressing the debate on the issues of national importance mentioned above by use of unlawful acts that include blackmail, intimidation and physical harassment of the elected leaders especially the Members of Parliament,’ the Kati Kati group says.

Further, according to the group, it is the constitutional duty of every member of the NRM to ensure that party’s interests are defended.

‘It is our duty as members of NRM in our Constitution to fight propaganda detrimental to the interests of NRM (Article 9 (2)(d) ), explain the achievements of NRM to the population (Article 9(2)(c)) and exercise the right to submit proposals or statements to the National Conference or National Executive Council (NEC) of the NRM (Article 9(1)(f)),’ they impute.

The group also calls upon the party leadership to mobilise members and initiate ‘consultations’ on a number of issues including ‘whether or not any Ugandan who is 18 years and above should be disqualified from being President of the Republic of Uganda; whether or not term limits should be simultaneously restored and, whether or not a second Chamber of Parliament should be created’.

Meanwhile, the removal of the age limit cap has generated heightened public debate, with sections of Ugandans taking to social media to argue for or against the idea, with those opposed to the removal arguing that the drive is intended to ensure the NRM Chairman, President Yoweri Museveni, rules for life.

By press time it was not possible to establish whether the party had sanctioned the Kati Kati meeting. However, sources told the EagleOnline that the meeting was coordinated by NRM honcho David Mafabi, a Senior Presidential Advisor on Political Affairs, the Kassanda South MP Simeo Nsubuga and his Nyabushozi counterpart Brig (retired) Fred Mwesigye.

Below is the full ‘Kati Kati Resolution’

RESOLUTIONS OF THE SYMPOSIUM OF DIVERSE MEMBERS OF THE MOVEMENT HELD AT KATI KATI ON TUESDAY 18^TH JULY 2017

“HONGERA, MZEE NA CHAMA!”

WHEREAS:

We, diverse members of the National Resistance Movement have been gathered today 18^th July 2017 in Symposium, at Kati-Kati;

WHEREAS:

We have had deep and cordial discussion on issues of Constitutional Amendment in Uganda;

BEARING IN MIND:

That the National Resistance Movement (NRM) is a national liberation movement whose historical mission is to transform Ugandan from a peasant to a modern society;

RECALLING:

That Founder Leader and President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has successfully led the Movement from fundamental victory to victory for more than 5 decades;

MINDFUL OF THE FACT:

That issues of national importance such as the land rights under Article 26 of the Uganda Constitution and the age of persons qualified to contest for President of Uganda as provided in Article 102 (b) of the Uganda constitution have caused a lot of debate in the public;

NOTING WITH REGRET:

That some members of the opposition are addressing the debate on the issues of national importance mentioned above by use of unlawful acts that include blackmail, intimidation and physical harassment of the elected leaders especially the Members of Parliament;

NOTING FURTHER:

a). That some members of the Opposition are spreading propaganda detrimental to our party (NRM) and the country and peddling outright lies;

b). That the people of Uganda on 28^th July 2005 voted in a referendum to restore multi-party politics, and that in this dispensation political parties and not individuals compete for political power during elections, and that our duty as NRM is to maintain the political power mandate given to us by the people of Uganda;

NOW THEREFORE, HEREBY DECALARE AND RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:

1. That it is our duty as members of NRM in our Constitution to fight propaganda detrimental to the interests of NRM (Article 9 (2)(d) ), explain the achievements of NRM to the population (Article 9(2)(c)) and exercise the right to submit proposals or statements to the National Conference or National Executive Council (NEC) of the NRM (Article 9(1)(f));

2. That the leadership of the NRM urgently initiates wide consultations of its membership on land right matters, as well as urge and mobilize Ugandans to participate and cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry into land matters set up by the President of the Republic of Uganda in 2016, in order to contribute to a comprehensive national consensus Ugandans on land matters;

3. That the leadership of the NRM urgently initiates wide consultation of its membership to determine:

a). Whether or not any Ugandan who is 18 years and above, should be disqualified from being President of the Republic of Uganda;

b). Whether or not term limits should be simultaneously restored;

c). Whether or not a second Chamber of Parliament should be created;

d). Etc;

4. That the NRM widely explains the achievements of the NRM Government and reminds the population of the achievements with a pledge to further improve service delivery;

5. That the NRM reminds its members that the main objective of a political party is to compete for and acquire political power, and urge our members to work for the continued service of Ugandans as well as prepare and front our best candidates to contest for political office, in order to win their electoral mandate and maintain the NRM party in political power in 2021 and the subsequent elections;

6. That these resolution be urgently submitted to the National Chairperson of the NRM, the Secretary General of the NRM – for onward transmission to the National Executive Council (NEC) and Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the NRM, etc – with the aim to generate consensus,  correctly advise members of the NRM Parliamentary Caucus and in so doing provide and exercise political leadership in the country, reference Articles 11 (3)(b),(e), and 13 (4)(a) – of the NRM Constitution.

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