Bwanika, Lukyamuzi want Age Limit amendment halted
Former presidential candidate Abed Bwanika, former Member of Parliament Lubaga South John Ken Lukyamuzi and President of the Justice Forum (Jeema) Al Hajji. Asuman Basalirwa has petitioned the high court seeking to halt the process of amending the constitution to remove the upper and lower age limit caps.
Represented by their lawyers led by Ladislaus Rwakafuzi and Luyimbazi Nalukoola , the trio demands that the parliament of Uganda halts the process seeking to Amend Article 102 (b) of the constitution until a referendum is held .
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“Let the people be governed through their will and consent as it is under article 1 of the constitution,” Rwakafuzi said.
In a letter dated June, 21, 2017, Abedi wrote to the Electoral Commission demanding for a national referendum. The EC gave the proponents a green light to collect signatures, however, the lawyers say that people who had volunteered to be part of the process were beaten up by the police and over 400,000 signatures that had been garnered were confiscated.
The EC in a letter dated November 29, 2017 stated that it finds the use of the Electoral signature ‘impracticable’.
The lawyers say this violates Article 61(1)(b) of the constitution which states that “The Electoral Commission shall have to organise, conduct and supervise elections and referenda in accordance with this Constitution.”
The lawyers suggest that the the application be granted as soon as possible in the interest of justice.
“One would just need his mobile phone, type a specific code and follow the prompts as long as their simcards are registered with NIRA . It would not even take more than five days to collect the signatures,” Rwakafuzi said.
The amendment of article 102 (b) of the constitution was tabled by Raphael Magyezi, the member of Parliament Igara West this September to vacate the age limit imposed on a presidential candidate. The Age limit debate caused chaos and divisions among the citizens country wide.
On Tuesday, parliament will receive a report for the legal affairs committee regarding the age limit. Meanwhile, legislators opposed to the age limit removal have declared this whole week as 'Togikwatako' week despite the police warning them against proceeding with the same.
