Kadaga: "Without my role in lifting the presidential age-limit, Museveni would not be on ballot" (VIDEO)

The speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga has said that if she wasn't the speaker of the House in 2017, President Museveni would not be on the ballot paper in the forthcoming 2021 general election.

Kadaga oversaw the amendment of the Country’s Constitution in 2017 where 317 Members of Parliament (MPs) who were mainly from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) voted to lift the Presidential age-limit that would later allow the NRM party chairman who turns 76 years next year to run for another term.

Before its lifting, Article 102 (b) of the Constitution locked out any Ugandan above 75 years and below 35 years from contesting for the highest political office in the country.

While appearing on STV, a local television station, Kadaga said that if she was not the speaker, the age-limit could not have been lifted and President Museveni would now be packing his bags to leave the State House.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KOD9IxGlgQ&feature=youtu.be

Kadaga said:  "He was not going to be on the ballot paper. By now, he would be packing."

Asked if she is proud of her role, Kadaga said, "well it happened. It happened and it passed, let's focus on other things now."

This website understands that in her campaign to become the NRM second national vice chairperson at State House last week,  Kadaga also listed one of her achievements as 'facilitating' the removal of the age limit from the Constitution.

In 2017 as the debate on lifting the presidential age-limit raged on many analysts then noted that Kadaga had suddenly changed from the impartial speaker they had known to a partisan one.

In fact when a section of opposition legislators tried to challenge some of her decisions, they were promptly suspended.

The amendment of the Constitution's article 102 (b) was punctuated with violence as Parliament was invaded by officers of the Special Forces Command who beat up MPs, leaving at least two MPs injured in the process.

Mityana Municipality MP, Francis Zaake and Mukono Municipality Member of Parliament, Betty Nambooze suffered serious injuries from which they are yet to fully recover.

Kadaga who faces Persis Namuganza in the CEC race has constantly said that she has demonstrated commitment to the party throughout.

She said at State House: "I have enacted all the necessary legislation and I have been available for work in the party through out."