Ugandan opposition launches campaign to fight removal of presidential age limit

KAMPALA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan opposition lawmakers on Thursday launched a new campaign to challenge the passing of the controversial constitutional amendment bill that scrapped the presidential age limit of 75 years.

Winnie Kiiza, leader of opposition in parliament, told reporters here that the campaign dubbed "Kogikutteko" loosely translated to "Now that you have touched it" is aimed to consult Ugandan voters on the next course of action and resisting the contentious bill.

"We want to let Ugandans know that we played our part and now we are giving the ball to the citizens in a new campaign Kogikutteko on what follows now that the Constitution has been tampered with," said Kiiza.

She said as part of the campaign, the legislators will drag Parliament and Speaker Rebecca Kadaga to the regional East African Court of Justice based in the Tanzanian city of Arusha for the passing of the contentious bill.

The bill was passed late on Wednesday by Parliament.

Kiiza said during the Wednesday vote on the bill, Kadaga violated the voting procedure.

"We even warned Speaker of Parliament that what the MPs were doing was illegal but she gave us a deaf ear and continued with process," she said.

Kiiza said they will also challenge the extension of the parliamentary and local council tenure of office from the current five years to seven years, starting with the current term, which was set to expire in 2021.

Opposition and campaigners who are opposed to the bill argue that the move by the ruling NRM is intended to allow President Yoweri Museveni, now 73, to run in the 2021 elections when he will be over 75. Enditem