Five legislators from the ruling National Resistance Movement-NRM party have launched a new campaign to create a transition from the Yoweri Museveni presidency in Uganda, and reinstate term limits on the presidency.
It is spearheaded by Workers MP Dr Sam Lyomoki working closely with Manjiya county MP John Baptist Nambetsye, Kassanda North MP Patrick Nsamba, Kasambya County MP Mbwatekamwa Gaffa and Kumi Woman MP Monica Amoding, among others.
The five legislators are among members of the ruling party currently opposed to a proposal to amend article 102 (b) of the constitution which caps the presidential age at 75. They state that the fear to talk about succession within the NRM party is likely to create a disaster for Uganda.
"Last time in our meeting, we started to talk about age limit, and every minister wanted to put his head under the table. Now the Minister of Constitutional Affairs Kahinda Otafiire claimed there is no one better than Museveni," Lyomoki said.
The MPs are jointly working on two separate private members bills, to be presented in parliament for debate on the matter and believe that the law will sail through the parliament in which the ruling National Resistance Movement-NRM party enjoys numerical strength.
Kumi Woman MP Monica Amoding says that they ought to be lauded by their own party for speaking the truth stating that Ugandans must have a say on the matter of the age limit, and the fact that president Museveni has led for long. Museveni has been in power since 1986.
"People fear president Museveni for various reasons; some of them have been eating for a long time and now have no courage to confront him," Amoding stated.
Amoding says they want a Constitutional Review Commission or a referendum instead of entrusting parliament with a mandate to decide on behalf of the 38 million Ugandans.
She added that there is still time for President Yoweri Museveni to come clean on the proposed amendment of the constitution, stating that the involvement of the security and the pressure in the country should make him review his decision.
"We don't want him to end up badly, let him reflect on this and there is still time" she adds.
Two years ago, a similar proposal hit a snag after members of the ruling National Resistance Movement party blocked then Buikwe South MP Dr Lulume Bayiga from tabling it.
Dr Bayiga's bill sought to, among others; make provisions for the procedure by which a President-elect can assume office and his or her access to all state power instruments. It also sought to establish an authority- the presidential transition committee to guarantee a peaceful transition from one president to another.
It had however been backed collectively by opposition legislators arguing that once the law is enacted; it will usher in a process of transition of power and guide Uganda's transit from President Yoweri Museveni's three-decade rule.
Dr Lulume Bayiga, the prime advocate for the law observed that this framework would deter an outgoing President from committing the government into certain decisions that can curtail peaceful handover of government.
