The battles could have been won by the ruling party upon the passing of the Anti – Age Limit Constitutional amendment but by the look of things the war was still on and was going to be a legal protracted war. A team of 15 lawyers including one retired Judge joined brains to draft a petition against the modesty of passing the law and the extension of Parliament tenure from 5 to 7 years. “The smuggling in of the extension of 7 years tenure of Members of Parliament can it be retrospective, did they have the mandate, and the rules spoke about you must confine yourself as a Committee to what is presented to you as a Bill, you may give proposals which are relevant to the Bill. So was it relevant? So we want also to look at all that.” Said, Yusuf Nsibambi – Lawyer. “It is unlawful; Parliament does not have the power to give themselves to legislate themselves more years in Parliament. And you’ve got to look at this in light of the provisions of the Constitution because the tenure of the Parliament as is the tenure of the President and Local Government are entrenched provisions of the law. The Presidency entrenched expressly and the rest entrenched by implication.” Said, Nicholas Opio – Lawyer.

Speaking to NBS Yusuf Nsibambi a law Don at Makerere University and part of the team said the process was unjust and an abuse to Constitutionalism in Uganda. “Whatever transpired was illegal, irregular, unconventional, unconstitutional, and unprecedented.” The lawyers argued that the process was marred by irregularities and it was unfortunate the legislators never contested this. “And then also we want to challenge the unconventional way in which debates were conducted in Parliament by the Speaker; suspending rules, arresting members, the harassing and torture of Members of Parliament while within the premises of Parliament and within the chambers. So can you talk about debating, can you talk about legislation under such an environment, what constitutes independence of Parliament as an organ?” “Who was procured by means of bribery, by means of violence, intimidation, by means of just shared force? And I think that depending on how the procedural irregularities at handled; that law, the argument whether it can be overturned or not is really on the margins, it’s difficult from where I see it for Court to nullify it.”

Counsel Yusuf Nsibambi though hesitant to disclose members of the team for security reasons was however hopeful that in regard to the way Speaker Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga manned the house that they had a good case to present. The petition will be fronted by a legal think tank; lawyers of Constitutionalism in Uganda once President Museveni assents to this Bill.