The Supreme Court has set April 18, 2019 as the ruling date for the age limit case.
In a judgment notice issued on April 15, 2019, the Deputy Registrar said the ruling will take place at 10am.
“If no appearance is made by yourself, your pleader or by someone by law authorized to act for you;the judgment will be delivered in your absence,” the registrar told the Attorney General, Legal Aid Project of Uganda Law Society , Rwakafuuzi & Co Advocates, Lukwago & Co Advocates and Male H. Mabirizi K. Kiwanuka.
Background:
On July 26, 2018m the Constitutional Court sitting in the eastern town of Mbale, by majority judges upheld the amendment to the constitution that scrapped the presidential age limit.
On the same day, the court also declared as null and void the amendment extending from five to seven-year term in office for Members of Parliament and other elected political leaders.
In August, one of the petitioners Mabirizi filed a memorandum of appeal at the Supreme Court in which he challenged parts of the constitutional court judgment. In his petition, Mr Mabirizi raised 16 grounds where he believed that the learned Justices erred in law while making their judgment.
The appeal was heard on January 16, 2019 and the law of the land requires that the judgment on any case should be delivered within 60 days.
But for this particular case it has been long overdue, a factor that forced Mabirizi to write to the Supreme court over the delayed judgment.
In a letter issued last month, the controversial lawyer contended that the delay has created loopholes that have been manipulated by some political players like President Yoweri Museveni who has been declared as a sole presidential candidate for the NRM party yet his candidature is one of the grounds being contested in the appeal.
He said the delayed judgment has frustrated his efforts to get the justice that he has been longing for since the Constitutional court also did the same thing when it delayed the same judgment at Mbale.
“I am no longer interested in the pending judgment, the only thing I want are reasons from court to why the delay and this is where I will start from to base my complaint to higher jurisdictions,” stated Mabirizi.
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