The former Deputy Inspector General of Police, Julius Odwe has added his voice to those condemning the proposed scrapping of Article 102 (b), which caps the presidential age to 75 years from the constitution.
In his statement issued this morning, Odwe says the decision by some NRM leaning members of parliament and 23 ministers to scrap the presidential age limit isn’t only disturbing but shallow minded.
He contends that Uganda is faced with serious problems, which require urgent attention other than scrapping the presidential age limit and the compulsory land acquisition by government, which government has decided to dwell on. He cites the increasing anxiety of Ugandans on the transition of power and Museveni’s succession, fear of the weak stewardship in the public sector, famine, poverty and injustices that require immediate government redress.
Odwe dismisses claims by those pushing for the removal of the presidential age limit that it is meant to ensure that youths, who account for about 80 percent of Uganda’s population, have chance to contest for the country’s top most position, saying the possibility of a youth becoming a president in Uganda is not even tenable.
According to Odwe, only ten youths have succeeded in becoming heads of state in Africa since 1960 through military coups, revolutions and amicable consent by some groups and not elections. He cites the late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan president who ascended to power at 27 years through a revolution in 1969 and the former Gambian president, Yahya Jammeh who became president at 29 through a military coup in 1994.
Others include Joseph Kabila, the incumbent president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Valentine Strasser of Sierra Leone and Michael Micombero who became Burundian President at 26 after declaring an end to the Monarchy and the Kingdom of Burundi in 1966.
Odwe says the MPs and ministers pushing the removal of the presidential age limit hold the key to modeling youths through education, exposure and experience and asks them not just to sympathize with the youths but give them hope through working for the betterment of their lives and the hope of taking over leadership.
URN New Vision Photo
