Party with most MPs to elect President, NRM MPs say they are ready

The Members of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) Caucus have said they are ready to kickstart consultations with stakeholders on the rumored constitutional amendments that will give MPs the mandate to dictate who becomes the president.

The NRM Chiefwhip Thomas Tayebwa said that although they have not received such a proposal to the caucus, they are fully aware of the benefits of such a system and are appreciative of its advantages.

“As NRM Caucus we are yet to receive this proposal. However, we must appreciate that the proposed system is one of the known political systems practiced by successful democracies like Great Britain, Italy, Canada etc. Once proposed, full consultations will be made with stakeholders,” he said.

Earlier the Minister for Agriculture Frank Tumwebaze said there was nothing wrong with amending the constitution through a participatory consultation process.

“Whether true or false, there is no harm in reviewing the constitution through a participatory consultative process. I thought many have been calling for different constitutional reforms? So how shall we achieve them without a formal review process?” Tumwebaze posed.

Tumwebaze said that there needs to be a sober debate on the merits and demerits of the parliamentary system viz the Presidential system without prejudicing.

“The latter entrenches individual merit which was a derivative of the movement system, while the former speaks to group merit and thus empowers parties’ movement system to multiparty, the other constitutional reforms needed to support political parties were never completed. Parties must be built not individuals if our democracy is stand! I am sure even colleagues in the opposition can appreciate this despite their " issues",” he said.

“I have heard arguments severally from political analysts talking about 'strong men' syndromes killing the growth of multiparty (political parties). The reason is because of the ' individual merit' system we have maintained despite having moved to the multiparty system ( pluralism),” he added.

A new plan is being mooted by the ruling government to amend the constitution and have the political party with the highest number of Members of Parliament (MPs) decide who the president will be.

According to sources, this plan could even take off with the next elections in 2026.

Information that Nile Post has attained confirms that the role to have this amendment done has been placed on the shoulders of Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuzi.

Already, preparations are underway and a constitutional review commission has reportedly been tipped to start nationwide consultations on the issue.

Should the amendment process succeed, this means that Ugandans will not be in charge of who takes over as the president but that role shall be left for the ruling party.

In an audio recording said to be of Jackson Kafuzi, the Deputy Attorney General said there is no fault in the amendment if that is what Ugandans want.

“Last time we amended the age limit, then the other time they removed term limits, all these followed the process of consultation and majority choice. There is nothing wrong with it if that is what the majority wants,” the recording reportedly from Kafuzi states in part.

“There are some who want the regional tier and Federo, it is our role as government to enforce what people want,” he added.

In the audio, Kafuzi also confirmed that other amendments being looked into include: the issue of land and also the denial of bail to murder suspects.

However, Kafuzi later denied making the comments, saying whatever was attributed to him in the audio is not true.

“I have come across social media sites alleging an impending amendment to the constitution through a constitutional review commission. They all claim to be quoting me. It’s not true and whoever is circulating it must be attempting to fulfill his or her own intentions,” Kafuuzi said in a tweet.

Commenting on the reports yesterday, the Minister for Agriculture Frank Tumwebaze said whether there is truth or not in the news, there was no harm in reviewing the constitution through a “participatory consultation process”.

The leader of the National Unity Platform(NUP), Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine said the people of Uganda must not underestimate the new scheme because this is how all the past schemes started, including removing term limits and age limits from the Constitution.

“Museveni having been roundly defeated in the last election, now wants to take away the right of the people of Uganda to elect their president. Of course he plans to do this in order to impose his son on us, well knowing that he can’t even get 5 percent of a popular vote,” he said.