As it happened: Uganda Today- Thursday, April 18

Apr 18, 2019

The Supreme Court has upheld the Constitutional Court decision which allowed the removal of the age limit from the constitution of Uganda

ROLLING NEWS THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Presented by Maurice Okore

 
That's it for today. You may scroll down for earlier stories. 
 

 
6: 20 pm
 
 
FINAL VERDICT
 
The Supreme Court has upheld the Constitutional Court decision which allowed the removal of the age limit from the constitution of Uganda. The Chief Justice Bart Katureebe delivered the final verdict.
 
 
 
 

 
5:50 pm
 
Age Limit verdict
 
Justice Jotham Tumwesigye has upheld the Constitutional Court decision which allowed the removal of the age limit from the constitution.
 
He says that the lower court justices did not err in law when they expunged the provisions of the bill which were not contained in original Magyezi Bill.
 
"Parliament cannot do the same process over and over because it will be wastage of resources," Tumwesigye ruled.
 
 It is now 3:3
 

 Justice Tumwesigye. PHOTO: Eddie Ssejjoba 

 

 
16: 50
 
Lake Kivu accident: 127 feared dead 
 
 
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has declared a day of mourning for Friday, with 114 people still missing days after a boat capsized on Lake Kivu, killing 13, the presidency said.
 
"The president of the Republic has declared Friday to be a day of national mourning," Tshisekedi's office said in a statement issued on Thursday.
 

 
4:42 pm
 
Age Limit verdict
 
Justice Paul Mugamba has also annulled the age limit amendment over the certificate of compliance. 
 
He says noncompliance with the certificate renders the entire bill a nullity.  
 
He has faulted Parliament for failure to follow the law and rules of procedure in the enactment of the impugned Act.
 
 It is now 2:3 upholding lower court decision and allowing respectively.
 
Sixth Justice Jotham Tumwesigye next to deliver his verdict and later the Chief Justice Bart Katureebe.
 

 Justice Paul Mugamba. PHOTO: Eddie Ssejjoba

 

 
4: 06 pm
 
Justice Ekirikubinza
 
Justice Lilian Tibatemwa Ekirikubinza has also allowed the appeal thereby nullifying the age limit amendment.
 
She has ruled that the certificate of compliance which accompanied the bill was defective because it contained unmentioned provisions and that the president had a duty to bring them to the attention of the speaker before assenting to it.
 
However,  she noted that amending article 102(b) of the constitution did violate the basic structure doctrine as it did not take away the sovereignty of people to elect their preferred president. 
 
In regarding smuggling of the bill, Tibatemwa said the speaker had no powers to determine the contents of the order paper which has to be done by the business committee.
 
 
Fifth justice Paul Mugamba now reading his judgment. According to Tibatemwa, it would be a dangerous precedent for the Supreme Court to let some provisions amended to go, and expunged some which resulted from a tainted process.
 
 

 Justice Lillian Ekirikubinza. PHOTO: Eddie Ssejjoba

 

 
  
3:15 pm
 
Supreme Court
 
Justice Opio Aweri he has also dismissed the age limit petition and ordered both parties to bare their costs. 
 

 
2:57 pm
 
Champions League semi-final dates
 
The order of matches for the Champions League semi-finals was announced by UEFA on Thursday, with Tottenham and Ajax playing first in the first leg and second the following week. 
 
All matches kick off at 1900 (GMT)
 
Semi-final first legs: 
 
Tuesday, April 30 
 
Tottenham (ENG) v  Ajax Amsterdam (NED)
 
Wednesday, May 1
 
Barcelona (ESP) v Liverpool (ENG)
 
Second legs 
 
Tuesday, May 7
 
Liverpool (ENG) v Barcelona (ESP)
 
Wednesday, May 8
 
Ajax Amsterdam (NED) v Tottenham (ENG)
 
The final is June 1 at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid.
 

 Courtesy photo 


2:50 pm
 
Kidnaps
 
The Uganda Police have dismantled a kidnapping ring in Kanungu district. The suspects have been charged with three counts of aggravated robbery and two Counts of Kidnap with intent to procure a ransom, before the Chief Magistrate's Court in Kanungu District. 
 
 
 
  

 
Accident
 
2:43 pm
 
There has been an accident involving an Isuzu bus belonging to Swift Safaris Bus Company at Kitojo in Sheema district along Kasese-Bushenyi highway. According to the Police, the driver hit a hump and lost control and overturned. The injured have been rushed to Kampala International University Hospital. No death.
 
 
 

Supreme Court 
 
2:21 pm
 
Supreme Court resumes after a two-hour break, and Justice Opio Oweri is now delivering his judgment.
 

 PHOTO: Eddie Ssejjoba

 

14: 09 pm
 
BOU  asked to act tough on loan-land transactions   
 
The land probe commission has tasked Bank of Uganda(BOU) to toughen on loan-land transactions conducted by commercial banks, saying fake titles are blocking economic development.
 
The commission gave the proposal  when BOU legal counsel Margaret Kaggwa, made a presentation at the probe public hearing in Kampala today morning
 
The commission has noted that some commercial banks do not conduct due diligence, and accept contentious land titles as collateral to access loans. 
 
Probe chairperson Justice Catherine Bamugemereire emphasised that these non-performing loans have clogged the financial system. She said authentication of land titles should be adhered to.
 
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 Probe chairperson Justice Catherine Bamugemereire

 

 
CARTOON OF THE DAY
 

 

 
Rubanda East MP has warned women in his district against beating their husbands if they want to have stable families 
 

 
Lunchbreak
 
12: 44
 
The Supreme Court takes a lunch break up to 2:00 pm. 
 
 
 

 
12: 41 pm
 
Media Freedom
 
Hatred of journalists turning to violence, watchdog warns
 
Hatred of journalists whipped up by populist and authoritarian leaders has degenerated into violence across the world, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned in their annual report Thursday.
 
And the number of countries where journalists can work safely is plummeting, its annual World Press Freedom Index revealed.
 
Political leaders' hostility towards the media "has incited increasingly frequent acts of violence that have fuelled an unprecedented level of fear and danger for journalists," the report added. Source: AFP
 

 Courtesy photo 

 

 
12:00 pm
 
 Justice Amoko dismisses the age limit appeal
 
Justice Stella Arach Amoko becomes the first judge to dismiss the age limit appeal.  She also exonerated Parliament Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, and asked the parties to meet their legal costs.
 

  

  

 
11:30 am
 
Chief Justice apologises
 
The Chief Justice Bart Katureebe has apologised for the delay in delivery of the verdict, saying the case was complex.
 
"Before we deliver our judgment, I need to explain the delay in the delivery of judgment. We reserved the judgment on notice but the case is complex. If you file 30,000 pages of pleadings, it takes a lot of time because we are also human beings who can fall victim. This time around, I am the victim, I underwent a surgery and I was supposed to go for a second but I halted it to deliver this judgment and I go" Katureebe said.
 
 

The Chief Justice Bart Katureebe . PHOTO: Eddie Ssejjoba

 

 
10:20 am
 
The seven justices are delivery their judgment right now in a courtroom full to capacity
 
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 Some of the people in attendance. PHOTOS: Eddie Ssejjoba

 
 

10:00am
 
Some news from our neighbours Kenya
 
 
A giant lion with enormous fangs that roamed the Kenyan savannah more than 20 million years ago was one of the largest ever meat-eating mammals, researchers said Thursday.
 
A team unearthed the lower jaw, teeth and other bones of a new species, Simbakubwa kutokaafrika -- Swahili for "big African lion".
 
They calculated it would have weighed up to 1,500 kilograms and could have preyed upon the elephant-like creatures that lived there at the time.
 

 This handout reconstruction image released on April 18, 2019 by Ohio university in Athens, Ohio, shows a Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, a gigantic mammalian carnivore that lived 22 million years ago in Africa and was larger than a polar bear. PHOTO: AFP

________________________________
 
 
9:30

Age limit verdict 
 
A sizable number of opposition politicians are already in the Supreme Court eagerly waiting for the Supreme Court to convene and deliver the age-limit verdict.

 Some of the opposition legislators in the Supreme Court

 Lawyers in a discussion before the ruling. PHOTOS: Farooq Kasule

 
 
 


8:16
 

 Ruling on age limit appeal for today

 
The Supreme Court will deliver its judgment in the ‘Age Limit' consolidated today in Kololo. The delivery is scheduled to start at 10 am local time.
 
Three months ago (on January 16), a panel of seven justices of the Supreme Court led by Katureebe concluded the hearing of the age limit appeal in which Mabirizi, Uganda Law Society and six opposition members of parliament (MPs) want the age limit amendment quashed.  
 
On December 20, 2017, Parliament amended the constitution, which uplifted the presidential age limit and also the term of parliament to seven years. The move prompted Mabirizi and four others to petition the Constitutional Court.
 
Last year on July 26 the Constitutional Court in a majority decision of 4:1 allowed the removal of the presidential age limit and unanimously declared the extension of the term of members of parliament and local government as unconstitutional.
 
 

 Supreme Court justices

 
 

 
Reminder
 
Today is Maundy Thursday, a Christian holy day that falls on the Thursday before Easter. It commemorates the foot washing and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles, as described in the canonical gospels. It is the fifth day of Holy Week, preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday
 

 



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