Uganda’s Parliament on Wednesday moved to consider the Constitutional ( Amendment) Bill, 2019 : By Hon. Niwagaba Wilfred.
Debate on the controversial was deferred until next week to allow MPs access the report of the committee and internalize it.
Among others, the bill seeks to have the term of office extended as they had sought in the presidential age limit petition in 2019.
Although the extension of the term for all political offices to seven years was not among the proposals Niwagaba included in his Private Member’s Bill seeking to amend the Constitution to change the structure of government, the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee proposed the extension.
“Presidential term limits to be meaningful, the presidential term has to be sufficient enough to enable the President implement and fulfil his or her manifesto. It is the considered opinion of the Committee that the term of five years is insufficient for the implementation of the manifesto in order to have a meaningful impact on the development of the country.” reads excerpts from the Majority report.
It should be recalled that while amending the Constitution in December 2017, Parliament voted to extend its term of office from five to seven years but it was rejected by the Constitutional Court in a petition by Male Mabirizi and others Vs Attorney General.
The matter went to court and Justices of the Constitutional Court ruled that it would be a breach of contract entered with the electorate at the start of the current term in May 2016.
In their ruling on July 26, 2018, the justices said MPs ought to have extended the tenure of Parliament through a referendum because this was a crucial matter that needed public participation and endorsement.
Analysts believe that reviving the debate is an attempt by lawmakers especially those who lost in the just concluded general elections, to extend their stay in the house as they would be the first beneficiaries of the amendment.
However, when the debate first came up in 2017, Budadiri West MP Nathan Nandala Mafabi and Masaka Municipality MP Mathias Mpuuga argued that they cannot extend their own tenure yet the voters gave them a five year term.
Legal experts we spoke to revealed that if passed, the law will take effect with the next term.
“It can’t be a retrospective application. People voted for a five year term,” David Kamukama,a lawyer told this publication on Wednesday night.