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Museveni distances himself from NRM members’ resolution on lifting presidential age limit
Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | President Yoweri Museveni has distanced himself from a section of Members of Parliament (MPs) of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) that voted unanimously to table a private members bill in parliament to amend the constitution and remove the age limit on the presidency.
Museveni told the press at the State House in Entebbe on Wednesday that he is not behind the resolution passed by 245 NRM MPs and NRM-leaning independents on Tuesday. The group are seeking to amend Article 102(b), which provides that for a person vying for the seat of president, they ought to be between 35 and 75 years.
Responding to a range of questions on Wednesday night during a national press briefing on the contentious proposed changes in land laws in the Constitution Ammendment Bill 2017, Museveni described the agitators of lifting the age limit as “Nyekundiire” a word in Runyankore/Runyakitara loosely translated as volunteers
“The activity of the NRM people on Tuesday regarding the lifting of the presidential age limit is not the official party caucus position but they are our members and they are “Nyekundiire”, said Museveni.
“They have got their personal views and that’s not an official NRM position.”
Museveni was however, quick to defend the members stating that they were provoked by opposition activists who are opposed to the changing of the constitution.
“I think they were originally provoked by those malicious people. For us we did our work in 1993 by organizing the constituent assembly elections which led to the CA delegates who in 1995 promulgated the constitution and it clearly stipulates what should be done in case one wants to change it or maintain it,” said Museveni
The NRM MPs resolved that Igara West MP Raphael Magezi will Thursday September 14, 2017 move a motion to seek leave of Parliament to introduce an omnibus Private Member’s Bill to amend Articles 102 (b), 108(3a) and 108(4) in a move seen as a significant step towards securing a free run for President Museveni to seek re-election in 2021.
President Museveni, who is now 73, is barred by the current Constitution from vying again as he will have surpassed the 75-year mark by the next election.
Asked to comment on his earlier views on handicaps that leaders over 75 years face, he said, “one of 75, is he fit?… you could ask medical doctors about the fitness of somebody post-75, whether they are fit to lead.”
Women Murders
Museveni also assured Ugandans that the government is going to close all the security gaps to curb the on-going cold-blooded women murders which have brought the number of victims to 21 in the areas of Entebbe and Wakiso over a period of three months.
Museveni said that the government is going to increase the technical capacity of the security forces to combat crime and murder for Ugandans to live in peace.
Museveni emphasized that government is going to expand the forensic capacity of the police to get all the criminals behindthese repeated murders in the city and other towns.
These so called Nyekundiire may not be toeing the official NRM line but what is the unofficial line? We all know that nothing of such great importance would be allowed to happen in Uganda without M7’s personal input. How many times have the opposition been assaulted by the police when the try to protest this amendment. The latest incident I think was in Entebbe yesterday. The police refused to take statements about the assault citing lack of jurisdiction. They are quick though to go miles out of their jurisdiction to teargas civilians who are opposition leaning. M7 is at it again. Insulting our, or should I say, my intelligence.
Once Hitler, came to one meeting with a live chicken. He started to pluck its feathers one by one off.
The chicken quacked in pain, blood oozing from its pores. It gave out heartbreaking cries but Hitler continued without remorse plucking feather after feather until the chicken was completely naked. After that, he threw the chicken on the ground and from his pockets, took out some chicken feed and started to throw it at the poor creature. It started eating and as he walked away, the chicken followed him and sat at his feet feeding from his hand.
Hitler then told members of his party “This chicken represents the people, you must disempower them, brutalise them, beat them up and leave them. If you do this and then give them peanuts when they are in that helpless and desperate situation, they will blindly follow you for the rest of their life.They will think you are a hero forever. They will forget that, it is you who brought them to that situation in the first place.”
Does this sound familiar?