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Soroti, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Presidential Candidate Patrick Oboi Amuriat has pledged to restore the presidential age limit in the Ugandan constitution once elected President of Uganda.
The FDC candidate Amuriat disclosed that his government will use all powers within its means to ensure that the age limit is restored.
He termed the removing of presidential age limit as greed and raping of the constitution by selfish personalities adding that this is among the key items in his manifesto and what his leadership seeks to address.
In 2018 incumbent President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni signed into a law the Age Limit Bill that removes a presidential age limit of 75 years from the country`s constitution.
This means that Museveni who was 73-year-old at that time would run for presidency in the 2021 election. The 1995 Uganda Constitution previously prohibited anyone below 35 years or older than 75 from serving as president.
The scrapping of the presidential age limit was received with widespread condemnation from opposition politicians, religious leaders and civil rights activists in the country. In late September 2018, members of parliament threw punches with security personnel following a heated discussion of the plan to remove the age limits.
Now Amuriat says that this is among his biggest tasks to ensure that presidential age limit is restored in the constitution as initially enacted in 1995.
He was speaking to Uganda Radio Network -URN during an interview from Gulu City ahead of his Monday 9th November 2020 manifestos launch in Soroti Municipality.
Other items on the manifesto that he named include salary increment for teachers and security forces to a minimum of one million shillings and increased funding to local government for effective service deliveries as well as promoting human rights.
Ambassador Wasswa Birigwa, the Head of FDC Campaign team also told URN that they are determined to restore good leadership and give hope to Ugandans once they topple into power.
He explained that amending the constitution to its original form is what the electorates are yearning for.
Betty Aol Ocan, the Leader of Opposition in Parliament on the other hand noted that FDC will use all means to win the presidential elections and ensure that sanity is restored in the country which is currently grappling with corruption and dictatorship.
Patrick Oola Lumumba, the Gulu City FDC Party Chairperson noted that this time their struggle for regime change will indeed be a reality.
Amuriat is battling for the presidency alongside ten others. They include; incumbent Yoweri Museveni Tibuhaburwa Kaguta Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party, Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine of the National Unity Platform (NUP), Norbert Mao of Democratic Party (DP) and Gregg Mugisha Muntu of Alliance for National Transformation (ANT).
The others are all independent candidates including; Henry Tumukunde Kakurugu, Willy Mayambala, John Katumba, Fred Mwesigye, Nancy Kalembe and Joseph Kabuleta. EC has set 14th January 2021 for the presidential elections.
