CRC extended, says Mukwaya

Aug 29, 2003

The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) term has been extended by two months to October 31, justice and constitutional affairs minister Janat Mukwaya said yesterday.

By Anne Mugisa

The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) term has been extended by two months to October 31, justice and constitutional affairs minister Janat Mukwaya said yesterday.

Mukwaya also told journalists that the cabinet will present its proposals to the commission next week.

She said the government was not trying to rig the Constitution, but was only presenting its views, which could be accepted or rejected.

The minister said the executive cannot amend any provisions of the Constitution.

She said the Constitution provisions could only be amended through a referendum or through a decision by Parliament and the district councils.

She said the commission will present its report to cabinet which will make a white paper, after which a Bill will be prepared for parliament.

She said after the first reading of the Bill in Parliament, it will be referred to the legal and parliamentary affairs committee before going to the House for debate.

She said during the time the relevant amendments are being debated, the electoral Commission will be expected to prepare for a referendum for the provisions that need one.

Mukwaya said changing articles 69, 74, 75 and 105(I) of the Constitution called for a referendum, while articles 5(I), 176 (I), 189 and 178 can be changed by parliament and the decisions of two-thirds of the districts.

She added that people have been going to radio stations purposely misleading the masses who do not have access to the Constitution, and the illiterate.

“The people who have been making comments are not ignorant of the constitutional provisions, but they are deliberately distorting them for their own interests,” Mukwaya said.

“And these are from the small community of the elite who are deliberately misleading the majority of Ugandans,” Mukwaya added.

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