By Mercy Nalugo
Jan 6, 2004
KAMPALA â The Reform Agenda has drawn its battle lines for 2004. Ms Beti Kamya, the spokeswoman for the political pressure group, said yesterday that members are going to campaign against lifting the two-term limit on the presidency.
The 1995 Constitution specifies two five-year terms for a sitting President.
However, Cabinet, in its proposals to the Constitutional Review Commission, called for the lifting of the limits.
Critics of the proposed move say it is, at best, designed to give President Museveni a âthird termâ in 2006 and, at worst, turn an incumbent into a life President.
âTime for apathy is over and all Ugandans should join the struggle against the third term,â Kamya said yesterday during Reformâs weekly media briefing at the groupâs headquarters in Kamwokya, a city suburb.
âWe canât amend the Constitution because we plan for generations and not for the next elections,â she added.
â[The] people of Uganda must be informed about the dangers of amending the Constitution so that they make informed decisions,â said the publicist.
Kamya was giving an overview of the work of the pressure group â which emerged out of Col. Kizza Besigyeâs 2001 presidential bid.
Besigye runs the organisation from exile, mainly in South Africa.
Kamya said the pressure group would continue to criticise bad government programmes.
Another senior official, Mr Louis Otika, did not disguise Reform Agendaâs political ambitions.
âWe shall of course win control of the state by peaceful means,â he said,
âbut this we shall do together with colleagues in the coalitionâ â with other opposition groups.
 2003 The Monitor Publications
