Uganda’s Parliament voted to strike down the age limit in 2017, and President Yoweri Museveni, now 74, signed the amendment into law in January 2018.

The petitioners, including several opposition leaders in Parliament and the Uganda Law Society, challenged the constitutionality of the amendment, citing procedural issues and the widespread unrest that surrounded the amendment’s passage. The Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling rejecting these concerns and upholding the amendment.

The dissenting justices noted that many legislators may have been pressured into approving the amendment due to the military presence within the chamber during the vote and expressed concern that the amendment did not reflect the will of the Ugandan people, who were not consulted.

This decision paves the way for Museveni to run for reelection in 2021, his thirty-sixth year in office.

Open way

Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni was on Thursday given a final green light to contest in the 2021 elections, after the country’s highest court backed constitutional changes that remove the age limit for presidential aspirants.

A 4-3 majority decision affirming the validity of 2017 constitutional amendments was widely expected in the East African country where critics say judicial independence has been eroded under President Museveni’s 33-year rule.

How Museveni’s victory was secured
Parliament, which is controlled by the ruling party, voted overwhelmingly in December 2017 to scrap an age limit of 75 years for presidential candidates.

The original legislation would have effectively barred 74-year-old Museveni from standing in the next elections due in 2021.

Opponents of Museveni, including lawmakers and individual opposition activists, mounted a legal challenge to the amendment first in the constitutional court which rejected their petition.

That rejection triggered their appeal to the supreme court.

“The decision of the constitutional court is upheld. This appeal therefore fails,” ruled Bart Katurebe, the country’s chief justice and a member of the panel.

Resisting the constitutional changes
The process to amend the constitution was marred by widespread violence including police dispersing rallies by MPs consulting their constituents on the amendments and beatings and detentions of opposition activists

Some opposition MPs were also at one time forcefully removed from the House’s debating chamber by members of military.

The petitioners had cited these incidents and other irregularities as sufficient grounds for nullification of the amendment.

Eldad Mwangusya, of the three justices who ruled in favour of the petition said widespread violence and security personnel interference in MPs’ public consultations made the removal of the age limit unconstitutional.

“Members of parliament… were assaulted, thrown onto public vehicles, detained and released without charge all of which amount to inhuman treatment which is in contravention of the constitution,” he said.

33 years and counting
In power since 1986, Museveni has been accused by critics of using security forces to stifle opposition through intimidation. Political activists routinely allege arbitrary arrests and beatings.

In February the executive committee of the ruling National Resistance Movement endorsed Museveni as its candidate in the next presidential election due in 2021, potentially extending his rule to 40 years.

One of his opponents in the next polls will likely be singer and lawmaker Bobi Wine – real name is Robert Kyagulanyi – who has rattled officials with his fast-growing support base.

Kyagulanyi’s following has ballooned since he joined parliament nearly two years ago, drawn by his criticism of Museveni’s long rule and government excesses through his lyrics.

(Published by Reuters and Jurist Org, April 19 2019)
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