The government on Friday gazetted the Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2019 after it was recently approved by the Cabinet.
The proposed Amendment seeks to, among other things, scrap the “running mates” clause from the 2013 Constitution. Clause 9 reads:
This clause adopts the provisions of paragraph 14 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution as the operative provisions relating to the question of the succession to the Presidency (given that the Vice-Presidents are not elected as running mates).
… Clause 19 will provide for the appointment of the Prosecutor-General by the President on the advice of the JSC, without the intervention of a public interview procedure, and makes a special provision for his or her removal for cause by a Tribunal.
The proposed amendment also seeks to allow the President to appoint up to seven (instead of five) additional ministers outside Parliament.
The Bill further proposes to extend by another 10 years, the provision of the election of 60 female members in the National Assembly under proportional representation. One constituency will be set aside per province for youths.