Some of the legislators on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee have expressed reservation on the recently returned Sexual Offences Bill, 2019.
Last week, the Deputy Speaker, Anita Among asked the committee to reconsider the bill following its return by the president.
In his letter to the Speaker, Museveni pointed out that several offences regarding morality are provided for under the Penal Code Act.
Now, as the committee convened yesterday to start reconsidering the Bill, some MPs questioned why the President failed to return the bill within the 30 days provided for under the Constitution.
Dokolo South MP, Felix Okot Ogong raised the same concern during plenary and Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, the Kira Municipality MP, said the committee has no mandate to reconsider the Bill since the timeframe within, which it should have been returned had elapsed.
The Deputy Speaker, Anita Among asked the Committee to advise the House on the way forward.
Kiryowa Kiwanuka, the Attorney General, tasked MPs to present evidence indicating that the President returned the Bill after the expiration of the 30 days.
The MPs rejected the Attorney General’s argument, saying that their internal processes are not in the public domain and therefore cannot be relied upon.
