The second day of the constitutional amendment petition hearing started off with the court house being made available to the public to follow the proceedings. The petitioners continued to present their case they pointed out that the clause to extend the MPs term of office was an afterthought that was just smuggled into the bill and was never an original part of it. Counsel Lukwago argued that those sections to extend the MPs term of office came out of the blue and were an afterthought due to selfish interests which cannot be sustained. The lawyer Nestor Kaganzi also backed this argument saying that the legal and parliamentary affairs committee that discussed the bill confirmed that the clauses to increase the term of office for the president, MPs and local councils from five to seven years were not a part of the original bill.
Counsel Paul Byamukama also pointed out that an abrupt extension of the term members of parliament according to the law allows for not more than six months and only in during a state of emergency which the country is not facing. He added that the certificate of financial implication that was issued by Secretary of the treasury Keith Muhakanizi catered only or the removal of the age limits and not for the extension of the terms of office. The petitioners asked for more time to present more evidence to support their case. The defendant side led by the deputy attorney general Mwesigwa Rukutana will get the chance to respond on Thursday 12 April.
