THE CONSTITUTION IS NOT A BIBLE: THE AGE LIMIT AMENDMENT BILL

I am a Christian Theologian whose manual is the Bible, and the cardinal rule of the Bible is in Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32 and Revelation 22:18-19. The Bible says:

Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2 KJV)

“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to it or take from it. (Deuteronomy 12:32 RSV)

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19 RSV).

The Bible has suffered abuse in three ways:

• Translation: The Bible has suffered because of translation from its original languages – Hebrew for the Old Testament and Aramaic/Greek for the New Testament. This has resulted in various versions (in many vernaculars and dialects) that reflect missing verses, and some terms like Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost have been misunderstood by the theologically disabled.
• Interpretation: The Bible has suffered subjective interpretation by both laymen and technical people with particular agendas. The Bible can be made to say what you want it to say by interpretation. It is a very lethal book in the hands of the gullible and the opportunists.
• Paraphrase: The Bible has also suffered from paraphrase and this has happened to its original manuscripts too (in Hebrew and Greek), as well as to its translations in all vernaculars, the major one being English.

However, the good news is that with all these dangers, there is no verse that has been removed and/or added, at least according to the original text (Hebrew and Greek) in the authoritative canonical manuscripts.

And I would recommend that if you really want to understand what the Bible says, please study these original languages or consult with the experts before you start burning these books or fasting to death. It is due to Bible abuse through Translation, Interpretation and Paraphrase that all established religions have come up with their own official Bible versions.

The Bible, however, differs from many constitutions of nations around the globe in the sense that no chapter, article or verse has been removed or added and it has no council that sits and amends its content. Even those who attempt through Translation, Interpretation and Paraphrase have people like us who keep them under theological checks and balances.

In Uganda, the ruling political party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) has influenced the Parliament to table a Bill amending the Constitution Presidential Age limit article. That is Article 102, clause B which says:

A person is not qualified for election as President unless that person is: not less than 35yrs and not more than 75yrs of age.

It is true that the constitution is a document that is not only open to interpretation (by the Judiciary) but also one that allows amendments whenever the need arises and the process is done legally. The most interesting thing in this whole saga is that the NRM defence line says: Amending the age limit article is a national issue, not about an individual.

And the well-thinking society wonders that: If it is a national issue, why it is handled in parliament and not through a referendum for everyone to participate?! Why doesn’t the amendment wait until the election period? And why are we in a hurry yet there is no national emergency?

As a sympathiser of NRM, I was embarrassed by this line of rationalisation of the need to amend the constitution. And it looks like those who defend this government are technically working against it in disguise. As someone who has done studies in Philosophy, I will tell you why. It is just in one word: PRESSURE.

The party is under pressure, it has failed to produce an equally competent candidate like Museveni for the last 20yrs (that is from the time Museveni ought to have retired) and it is preparing the 2022 election ground. To deny that the Amendment is about an individual flag bearer whose major shortcoming, constitutionally, is age, is hiding one’s head in the sand.

It is true that politics is a business of numbers, and it has always been the case that the majority decides for the minority. Apart from money, majority vote has always been the card that the NRM plays last to silence the opposition. I want you to think with me here, let me ask a rhetorical question: Is the majority right because of its SIZE or its SENSE?

In my University days, I was a guild president who disagreed with 50% of the university students, 100% of the University Administration, and 97% of the guild government was opposed to my leadership. But before the end of my regime, they all admitted that I was right and they were wrong. Jesus’ philosophy was not popular to the majority and he stood alone until he was killed. Today we preach his philosophies to ensure behaviour in our societies.

The question is: IS THE MAJORITY RIGHT BECAUSE OF ITS SIZE OR SENSE? Because, seriously, if all government officials are forced to retire at 55yrs and the Chief Justice retires at 70yrs, then how come the one in the office of the president, which is actually more demanding and upon which the entire nation thrives or fails, is extended beyond 75yrs? Article 32, clause 1 of the Constitution reminds us that the state shall take affirmative action in favour of the marginalised and under the marginalised, the aged is a category.

People opposed to the age limit amendment should not be looked upon as those against the aged but rather as those doing their constitutional duty to protect the aged (National Objectives and Directive Principles of state policy, clause VII) from doing things that will hurt their physic and reputation. Secondly, one wonders, if someone beyond 75 years can contest for the office of the president, why can’t an 18-year-old be president of the country?

The majority will determine and, unfortunately, will decide basing on SIZE and not on SENSE. The cheap and fallacious argument by the NRM is: Why do you want us to withdraw our best player who scores for our team? This sounds sensible from the side, however, it demonstrates how the party has failed in nurturing other visionary players to substitute this best player in case of inevitable injuries like the age-limit.

The party also, in arguing thus, fails to recognise that their best player in the office of the president ceased to score for their team (NRM) but has an obligation to score for the entire country. All people ask: Well, he is scoring for his football club NRM, but is he scoring for his national team UGANDA?

Lionel Messi was a very good player at Barcelona as a club, but poor for the Argentina national team. Christiano Ronaldo is a star at Real Madrid football club and a star who won the world club for his country Portugal. Which player is really scoring? SIZE or SENSE?

Another way of looking at this political fallacy of MAJORITY vote is to direct our eyes to the Parliament where the NRM is always quick to run whenever it has a political solution it is seeking. In fact, in my view, the NRM government has turned the parliament into a more relevant organ than any other in the country. People have now been programmed to look at the President as the head, and the Parliament as his vice. The NRM likes running to the parliament every now and then because it knows it has numbers. Numbers that need 50-100 million to lift their hands and say ‘Aye’.

I want you to look at this irony, the NRM wants to use its MAJORITY in a Parliament of not more than 350 individuals to amend a document (Constitution) which belongs and represents over 30 million citizens of the Republic of Uganda. Let me ask, which of the two (30 Million and 350), is the majority? 99.9% will answer that 30 Million is the majority, which is a politically wrong answer.

The answer is politically wrong because, in politics, the issue of the majority is not restricted to numbers alone but what those numbers have at their disposal. In global politics, every country that has nuclear weapons does not have to apply to be a member of the UN Security Council, regardless of its population and quality of people. When the NRM says we have the MAJORITY, many of us look at the 350 individuals in Parliament. However, the NRM political majority includes the police, the military and the entire state machinery.

Many people think that it is playing unfairly when NRM unleashes all the state machinery to effect its will, but the truth is whoever says this mistakes politics to be a humanitarian discipline. Friends, politics is about power, getting it by all means and retaining it by all means. In politics there are no win-win situations, you either lose or win, there has never been a middle ground. It is a game of sides, not neutrality. That is why I have always argued that the concept of INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE is a political deception.

The NRM does not have the majority to change a document of 30 million people but it has an organised 350 men and women who claim not to speak for themselves but for the 30 million people despite no consultations. It is a game of opinion polls which produces statistics about your house without consulting you the owner.

It is very unfortunate that this politics of THE FALLACY OF THE MAJORITY goes beyond Uganda to international politics where European countries influence policies in Asia and African countries using their tools of military arsenal and international aid. It does not end in politics, but even in organised religions. Whoever pays the piper determines the tune.

Fellow citizens, I beg you not to allow politicians to use you for their selfish agenda. Politicians are faithfully doing their work, focus on yours too. Do not fall for these fallacies and neither should you listen to politicians who tell you to go to the streets and throw stones at those with guns.

The constitution was written by men just as the Bible was written by men, however, the difference is the spirit that influenced the content. While the constitution was written by men under the influence of POLITICS (which is DECEPTION), the Bible was written by men under the influence of the SPIRIT OF LOVE (which is TRUTH).

The Bible says in 2Peter 1:20-21 that: But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

The problem with our man-made constitution is that men speak and interpret from our selfish desires and aims. That is how we all get hurt and that is why the Constitution is not the Bible and we shouldn’t expose our lives to the dangers of defending an inconsistent document like the constitution like we should defending the theology of the Bible.

The Theology of the Bible is not church doctrines that are voted by elected religious councils. The Theology of the Bible is not determined by the size of your religion but by the sense it makes. The Theology of the Bible is that you are Saved by Grace through Faith alone and this matters a lot for it gives you real power over the real enemy which DEATH.

Death that eventually eats powerful politicians, death that takes those with guns, with money, with the majority, death is the real power and the Gospel of resurrection is the absolute power that eventually consumes this enemy and launches us to a new better world where decisions are not made by the greedy and vulnerable majority but by a loving God who the Bible implies when it says in John 3:16 that: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV).

Friends, all of you in the opposition and in the NRM, It doesn’t matter whether you amend the constitution a thousand times, you cannot amend DEATH. Whether the age limit stays at 75 years, death has no limit on those outside Jesus Christ. An old president dies and a young president will die too. The only way to be in charge is to surrender to Jesus Christ and have eternal life after this.

God bless you, I invoke TRUTH, REASON, and FAITH

Am Pr. I.T.WHITE

The Gospel Hawker