The ruling NRM party has appointed 6 more members to join the legal and parliamentary affairs committee which is scrutinizing the controversial age limit Bill.
The committee was on September 27 tasked by the Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga to scrutinize the Bill tabled by Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi and present a report to parliament.
The infamous bill seeks, among others, to repeal Article 102(b) of the Constitution, which caps the presidential age at 75, a move which could make President Yoweri Museveni eligible to contest for another term of office in 2021.
Now, during Wednesday’s plenary session, government chief whip took the most desperate move of appointing more members from the party, in order to win a majority vote in a committee that is yet to present its report to the house.
In Wednesday’s session chaired by Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah, Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa took to the floor and designated the six members to the committee.
They are the newly elected MPs including Rubanda Woman MP Prossy Akampulira Mbabazi, Kabong Woman MP Rose Lilly Akello, Iganga Woman MP Brenda Asinde Ssuubi, and Rukiga Woman MP Caroline Kamusiime.
The others added to the committee include Kibanda North MP Taban Amin and Nansana Municipality MP Robert Kasule Ssebunya.
This brings to 29, the number of MPs on the Committee. The Rules of Procedure provide for a maximum of 30 MPs on a particular committee.
The committee has 19 NRM MPs, six Independents, two members from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party and two from the Democratic Party (DP).
A section of the committee's members mainly from the Opposition and Independents have publicly declared that they are against the proposed amendment while majority of the NRM MPs remain silent on the matter.
The ruling NRM Parliamentary Caucus supports the Bill.
