By Benjamin Jumbe:
President Yoweri Museveni has signed the controversial Age Bill into an Act.
This has been confirmed by Parliament’s Director Communications Chris Obore.
Obore tells KFM that the bill was signed on 27th December 2017 and is now before the Clerk to Parliament- a record 7 days after it was passed by MPs.
Legislators on 20thDecember 2017 passed the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2017 dropping the 75 year upper age limit for presidential candidates and extending the term of Parliament to seven years.
After three days of debate and objections by a section of Opposition, Independent and a few NRM MPs, Parliament approved what came to be known as the ‘Age Limit Bill’ with the required two thirds majority.
315 MPs voted in favour, while 62 rejected the Bill, with 2 MPs abstaining.
Earlier, several religious leaders including th Archbishop of Gulu, John Baptist Odama, cautioned President Museveni against appending his signature on the Bill.
Archbishop Odama said if President Museveni signed the Bill knowing that it was passed without the views of majority Ugandans, he would be tormented by his conscience.
