Court ‘to hear Museveni age limit case’

The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has agreed to take a case challenging the legality of the Ugandan parliament’s decision to abolish the presidential age limit of 75.

Kampala-based lawyer, Male Mabirizi Kiwanuka, who filed the case, alleges the government violated the East African Community treaty on good governance and democracy in passing the law.

Opposition politicians say lawmakers only pushed through the legislation to allow the current president, Yoweri Museveni, to run for a sixth term.

However, the country’s attorney general has hit back at these claims, calling them “frivolous and vexatious”, and has asked the EACJ to dismiss the case.

In 2017 Uganda’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to scrap the country’s presidential age limit, set at 75, for all presidential candidates.

This permits Museveni, 73, to extend his tenure in office beyond the 34 years he has already been in power.

Photo: AFP