A Ugandan court on Thursday validated constitutional changes that removed the 75-year presidential age limit, a ruling that would potentially allow President Yoweri Museveni to extend his three-decade rule.
Three of the five judges endorsed the Ugandan parliament decision in December last year to scrap the age cap that drew criticism from opposition parties that the 73-year old Museveni wanted to be president for life.
“The removal of age limit may encourage an incumbent to wish to keep himself in office perpetually but the citizens still retain the power to either return the same president or elect a different one,” said Elizabeth Musoke, one of the three judges who endorsed the amendment.
Museveni, whose 32-year rule of the east African country has been punctuated by corruption scandals, human rights violations and poor social services, is the latest in a string of African leaders who have tried to prolong their the time in office.
In Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, such moves have provoked instability.
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