Age Limit Petition day 4: Defense presents their case

The fourth day of the age limit petition carried both a serious and hilarious tone, being the first day the defense was to present its case to the court. The deputy attorney general Mwesigwa Rukutana with his team of lawyers including Christine Kawa, the solicitor general Francis Atoke and Martin Mwambusya the commissioner of litigation faced harsh scrutiny from the justices who at times struggled to understand the arguments and in other instances poked holes in many of the defense’s arguments. Mwesigwa Rukutana assured the house that his side was going to prove that the petitioner’s claims were frivolous and unfounded. He also reiterated that they would demand for costs once they proved that they were right and the petitioners were wrong.

The defense began by requesting the court to summon the Mukono municipality MP Betty Nambooze for cross examination. The petitioners mentioned that Hon. Betty sustained life threatening injuries because of the way she was manhandled in parliament by security operatives. Counsel Christine Kawa requested that Hon. Nambooze appear together with medical history documentation to prove that her injuries were actually caused by the scuffle in parliament as the petitioners said. This was agreed upon by the deputy Chief justice Alphonse Owiny who set 17 April as the date on which Betty Nambooze is expected in court for cross examination

The defense then proceeded to defend the extension of the parliamentary term of office from 5 to 7 years citing that the parliament has the right to make such amendments in their wisdom. The deputy attorney general Mwesigwa Rukutana claimed that despite the petitioners’ claim that the clause was smuggled into the bill and the electorate was not consulted before the decision was made, the members of parliament did actually consult the people through text messages and phone calls. They continued to defend the extension using the fact that the parliament can amend any clause of the constitution that they see is fit for the betterment of the country.