Creation of 46 new constituencies challenged in regional court

Lawyer Male Mabirizi has challenged the creation of 46 new constituencies that were approved by parliament recently.

Parliament last month approved the creation of 46 new constituencies in various parts of the country to enlarge the number of representatives in the August House.

However, in the petition before the East African Court of Justice, Mabirizi says that the creation of the 46 constituencies and subsequent approval by both cabinet and parliament was illegal.

“The creation and approval of the 46 constituencies without quorum, without debate and without suspension of Parliamentary Rules of Procedure requiring debate is contrary article 63(2) of Uganda Constitution which requires the demarcation to be made by Electoral Commission,” Mabirizi says.

“The same is contrary to Article 63(3) of Uganda Constitution which requires that the boundary of a constituency shall be such that the number of inhabitants in the constituency is, as nearly as possible, equal to the population quota,”

The lawyer also avers that the creation of the new constituencies is contrary to Article 63(5) of Ugandan Constitution which requires that the Electoral commission shall review the division of Uganda into constituencies within twelve months after the publication of results of a census of the population of Uganda and may as a result redemarcate the constituencies.

Mabirizi argues that court should be moved to grant him damages for the disturbance and anguish caused to him by the creation of new constituencies.

Background

The State Minister for Information and ICT, Peter Ogwang recently said the need to extend services nearer the people and effective representation necessitated the need to create new constituencies.

“It was not our constitutional wish but the needs of people. These counties have been passed by their respective district councils whereas some have been waited for as far as 2010,” Ogwang said.

The minister explained that the required criteria, including the Constitutional requirements had been passed by the various areas before government accepted to carve out new constituencies.

Number of MPs rises to  497 as parliament approves creation of  46 new constituencies

 

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