Ugandan clergy wade into presidential age limit crisis [The Morning Call]

The Inter-Religious Council of Uganda has appealed to the Ugandan government to allow the decision on the controversial presidential age limit to be made by a referendum.

The council made up of seven heads of the major religious bodies in the country in a statement said Ugandans should be allowed to determine their destiny.

They also urged security agencies to “stop harassing one side and favouring another and called on President Yoweri Museveni to “assert true statesmanship on the matter”.

Members of Parliament of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and some independent MPs had passed a resolution to debate the removal of the presidential age limit currently pegged at 75.

If the amendment is approved, President Yoweri Museveni who is currently 73 can contest in the next elections.

Some opposition figures have been speaking out against the bill including President Museveni’s long time political rival Kizza Besigye.