Government is ready to return the contentious constitutional land amendment bill after the removal of the presidential age limits.
This was revealed by General Kahinda Otafire, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs while appearing before the Committee of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
MPs raised concerns over Government’s failure to report back to the Committee regarding the land amendment, having requested for two weeks in 2017.
Kahinda denied reports that Government was set to withdraw the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2017 but has now modified the Bill for the betterment of society.
However, Kahinda’s position was contested by Gaster Mugoya, Bukooli North MP who informed the Committee that NRM had agreed to withdraw the Bill and come up with a new law .
The Bill that was tabled in 2017 seeks to make amendments to article 26 of the Constitution to give powers to government to take over private land for public projects without prior compensation.
The Bill was met with fierce national protest from both the opposition and ruling members saying the move will legalise land grabbing in the country.
In their budget projections, the Ministry is seeking for over Shs801Billion although the projections from the Ministry of Finance indicate that the Ministry of Justice will receive only 80 Billion shillings, leaving the body grappling with a funding gap of over 720 Billion shillings in the 2018/2019 national budget.