Harare - Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been Uganda President since 29 January 1986 when he took power from General Tito Okello as the head of ...
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Harare - Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has been Uganda President since 29 January 1986 when he took power from General Tito Okello as the head of a rebel army.
Thirty one years later, Museveni, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders is not showing any signs of passing on the baton - after he signed a bill into law that removes a presidential age limit of 75 from the country's constitution.
The move allows the 73-year-old president to run for a sixth term in 2021 - this will push his term of office nearer to disposed former Zimbabwe President - Robert Mugabe who ruled the country for 37 years - while Paul Biya has been at the helm of Cameroon politics since 6 November 1982.
The move allows the 73-year-old president to run for a sixth term in 2021 - this will push his term of office nearer to disposed former Zimbabwe President - Robert Mugabe who ruled the country for 37 years - while Paul Biya has been at the helm of Cameroon politics since 6 November 1982.
Don Wanyama, senior presidential spokesperson, told reporters yesterday that Museveni had signed the bill on 27 December. The Ugandan parliament had passed the bill on 20 December, with 317 politicians voting in favour and 97 against.
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| Former Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda |
Museveni addressed the bill in his end-of-year address on Sunday, saying he saluted the members of parliament who had supported it. The Ugandan Constitution, enacted in 1995, previously prohibited anyone younger than 35 or older than 75 from serving as president.
The scrapping of the presidential age limit, however, has met widespread opposition from civil rights activists, opposition politicians and religious leaders in the country.
In late September, members of parliament threw punches and climbed over benches, in a heated session discussing the plan to remove the age limits.
"This law will remain largely inconsequential because it was passed against the wishes of majority of Ugandans," Crispy Kaheru, the coordinator of the Citizens' Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, an umbrella organisation for Ugandan civil society.
Kaheru said there will be challenges both legally and "in the court of public opinion … in the end it is the majority of Ugandans who will have their last say on how they wish to be governed".
He has served as president since 1996. - Online Sources
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