Due to public demand and after a long time of soul searching, Aida Nantaba, the Kayunga District Woman MP went against her master President Museveni while gathering her voters’ views on the proposed Constitutional Amendment.
The private member’s bill tabled by Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi seeks among others to amend article 102 (b) that puts the age of any presidential candidate at above 35 years and not above 75 years. Opposition MPs and a few others from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRN) see it as a move intended to benefit president Museveni who will be beyond 75 years in 2021.
Pictures of Nantaba, a State Minister in the Uganda Ministry of Information and Communications Technology appearing on a seemingly red ribbon during a meeting on a Wednesday rally held at Busaana Town Council are making rounds on social media.
The red ribbon is used by opposition to reject the age limit bill while the yellow ribbon is used by ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party members who support the removal of the clause.
Nantaba was with her colleague, Amos Lugoloobi, the MP Ntenjeru North, also donning a red ribbon.
The duo listened to the electorate who overwhelming rejected the proposed amendment of Article 102 (b). Shocked by the outcome, the two legislators decided to put the matter to the vote by show of hands. A total of 39 people supported the removal of the clause while the remaining hundreds all opposed it.
“There are so bad people saying that we (with Lugoloobi) are going to change what our people of Kayunga have decided, that is not going to happen,” Nantaba told TheUgandan.
“Our electorates are our bosses, their will during the ongoing consultations is what we will take back to Parliament,” MP Lugoloobi also said.
