Museveni has been bad influence on region, a bulwark for impunity

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

The context of the ongoing political tumult in Uganda is the recent amendment of the Constitution, which removed the 75-year cap on candidates seeking election as president. In office for the last 32 years, and having won another five-year term in 2016, President Yoweri Museveni is already 73 and would have been disqualified to run in Uganda’s next presidential election in 2021, except for the amendment.

As part of the constitutional change, members of the Ugandan parliament had also awarded themselves, and members of the country’s local councils, a two-year term extension. However, the country’s constitutional court eventually struck down this particular amendment, for the reason that it was made without recourse to the electorate. In a majority decision, the constitutional court, however, upheld the amendments on age limits, declaring them lawful.