Ugandan judge on age limit petition threatened

A new twist has hit the reading of the presidential age limit petition with one of the justices finding a chit in his chambers threatening him.

Daily Monitor can reliably report the threatened judge, whose name has been withheld, briefly took refuge in another judge's chambers before entering the courtroom.

It is not yet clear whether this was the reason why reading of the age limit petition verdict was delayed.

The Constitutional Court was expected to start reading its verdict on Thursday at 9:30am at the High Court in Mbale.

However, it started at about 10:40 as lawyers and other people who attended court were losing patience.

CONSULTATION

Before one of the five judges on the panel, Justice Cheborion Barishaki, started reading the verdict, Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, who is the lead judge in the petition, apologised for the delay which he attributed to "some matters" he did not mention and asked the court to be orderly.

"I want to urge people that the way you go to Mulago hospital and leave the doctors do their work, please leave it to judicial officers also do their work. Justice is not about hearing and delivering this evening, you may do injustice instead," he said.

The Constitution Amendment Act last year removed age limits on the presidency and sought to extend the term of parliament and president by two years.

Concerning the extension of the term of parliament, Justice Barishaki said there was no evidence that Ugandans had been consulted, terming the move as "selfish".