No person can single handedly cancel a general election- Lawyers advise

By; Jjunju Francis

13^th May 2020

The Secretary-General Uganda Catholic Lawyers Society Counsel Fredrick Ssemwanga has clarified that any idea of postponing or cancelation of 2021 elections can not be the decision of a single individual.

Ssemwanga  who is also the Legal Counsel-Parliamentary Liaison for Uganda Episcopal Conference says any plan to do so, is against the constitution since political leaders in Uganda are given a legal mandate of five years according to the constitution.

And any idea of postponing elections one has to do so with the parliamentary approval.

This follows utterances that there could be plans to do away with the 2021 general elections due to the effects of COVID-19, given the high expenses in billions of shillings, spent to control the spread of the Pandemic as well as the Health Emergency Standards that among others limit social gatherings.

Counsel Ssemwanga has called for calm among Ugandans adding that it’s too early to think of postponing elections when there are countries that are preparing for elections before the end of this year.

The 1995 constitution indicates that, the term of parliament under the state of emergency can only be extended for six months under Article 77(4) and for the presidency it can be extended for only two years with the approval of parliament under Article 105(2).