Halt age-limit amendment - lawyers

PIC: ULS vice-president Alice Namuli

AGE LIMIT | LAWYERS' COMMENT

Uganda Law Society (ULS) has said the process to amend the presidential age-limit clause in the Constitution should be halted to allow for more public consultation on the matter. 

"Rushing through the amendment risks polarizing the country, which could affect the semblance of peace that the country is enjoying," ULS said.     

ULS vice-president Alice Namuli said the matter is "too critical" to be decided only by MPs.

Namuli said they recently relayed their advice to speaker Rebecca Kadaga, but their advice seems to have been ignored.

A private member's Bill championed by Igara County West MP Raphael Magyezi is proposing an amendment to article 102 (b) of the Constitution. The article bars anybody over the age of 75 or below 35 from running for president of Uganda.

In a statement, ULS also condemned the manner in which over a dozen MPs were brutally ejected from Parliament on Wednesday, after a standoff between them and Kadaga on the way forward to the controversial age-limit Bill.

The standoff forced men, believed to be from Special Forces Command, to storm the House to evict the MPs.

 "This intrusion amounts to a surrender of the Parliamentary supremacy," ULS said, adding that the attack was a "violation of the principles of separation of powers."

ULS recommended that a select committee be setup to investigate the incidents in the House and make appropriate recommendation to strengthen the sanctity of Parliament.

They also want the recent ban on live broadcasts lifted as it "infringes on the citizens' right to information and is certainly not a permissible derogation under the Constitution".