'Aspirants who changed names may not be nominated by EC'

Majority of the political aspirants who changed their names or adopted their spouse's names are likely not to be nominated after government failed to table a bill that was intended to amend Section 36 the Registration of Persons Act 2015.

Some legislators said the absence of the Attorney General in the Thursday parliamentary sitting to table the bill as promised is a sign of unseriousness on the part of government.

Last week, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Justice Simon Byabakama, disclosed to legislators sitting on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee that the commission will not nominate people who have inaccuracies in their names.

This compelled the committee to direct the office of Attorney General to urgently address the issue by tabling a bill to have the Registration of Persons Act 2015 amended to correct this.

On September 30, the Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuuzi informed the House that he had gotten clearance from cabinet to have the bill tabled before Parliament.

The Attorney General William Byaruhanga had been expected to return to the House on October 1 but was nowhere to be seen.

This compelled the Speaker Rebecca Kadaga to summon Byaruhanga to appear within 15 minutes to have the bill tabled but his appearance did not yield much after he indicated that he needed more time to have the bill drafted before it's presented for debate and passing.

Some of the aspirants likely to be affected are the women who adopted their spouse's names and those who changed their names because of various problems.

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