Police has heavily deployment at Natete Lorry Park in Rubaga South constituency in Kampala ahead of the planned joint opposition consultation meeting on the presidential age limit.
Heavily armed police on three patrol vehicles are seen deployed strategically at Natete traffic lights and Lorry Park, while at least 40 regular police officers are also deployed in the area.
However, none of the opposition members of parliament had arrived in the area by press time although; the consultative meeting was scheduled to kick off by midday. Rubaga South constituency is represented in parliament by Kato Lubwama.
Earlier on police picked up Juuko Kayima, the Rubaga Central A councilor and threatened to drag him to the Criminal Investigations Department headquarters in Kireka for allegedly putting on a red ribbon and red eye glasses.
Kayima was overheard telling police that "Uganda is a home of all and people shouldn't be treated this way, adding that he had done nothing wrong. He was later released and ordered to remove the red ribbon and maintain peace. Siraji Bakaleke, Kampala South Regional Police Commander, says they have only deployed to maintain law and order.
He also warned the opposition legislators against holding joint consultations as directed by Asumani Mugyenyi, the Director of Operations in Uganda Police Force.
Early this week, Mugyenyi wrote to Regional Police Commander, District Police Commander and Officers in Charge of Police Stations to stop joint opposition consultations, saying each MP should consult in their own constituency.
The directive drew angry protests from the legislators, saying there is no law barring them from holding the joint consultations. Although Bakaleke admits there is not law stopping the joint consultative meetings, they are only acting on the speaker's directive, which requires MPs to stick to their constituencies.
The opposition MPs announced the joint consultative meetings after the Igara East MP, Raphael Magyezi tabled The Con¬sti¬tu-tion (Amend¬ment) (No. 2) Bill, 2017, which seeks to scrap article 102 (b) of the constitution that caps the president's age at 75 years.
he bill is currently before the legal affairs committee for scrutiny before it is returned to parliament for discussion. Once approved, the bill will pave way for president, Yoweri Museveni who will be, 75 years of age to contest for re-election in the 2021 elections.
