Uganda’s Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga on Wednesday suspended 24 Members, following Tuesday’s brawl that erupted amid the tabling of the controversial presidential age limit debate.
Kadaga also suspended the country’s minister for Water Resources Ronald Kibuule, saying she had established that he brought a weapon into the House.
“I have established that Hon. Ronald Kibuule brought a weapon into the House as he did not go through the security check,” she said.
Tuesday’s brawl reportedly erupted after opposition MPs found out that Minister Kibuule had brought his gun into the house.
Even so, chaos was expected as the opposition members plotted to stop the tabling of a bill that seeks to scrap the upper age limit for presidential candidates.
The bill has the support of the ruling National Resistance Movement, which is keen to have President Yoweri Museveni in the ballot come 2021.
The law currently caps the upper age limit at 75, meaning the 73-year-old president will be barred from running in the next election.
Opposition members have condemned the move, saying it is a plot to have Museveni cling on to power.
Last week, the bill caused a tussle in parliament, forcing the speaker to adjourn the sitting.
Museveni has been president of the East African nation since 1986, and is one of Africa’s longest serving leaders.
