Article 105, Tenure of Office of The President

The term tenure refers to the term of holding something. Article 105 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 provides for the tenure of the President. A person who is elected President may hold office for one or more terms, and each term is five years. This implies that there is no limit to the number of terms a president can hold office for as long as he/she is democratically elected. The Constitution originally provided for a limit of two terms for a given president; however, the Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2005 removed the limits to the tenure of the office of President.

Clause 3 of Article 105 provides for two scenarios when the seat of the President can be declared vacant, i.e. on the expiration of the time stipulated, which is five years or if the incumbent dies or resigns or ceases to hold office in accordance with Article 107.

Article 107 expounds on the grounds that would warrant a president to be removed from office hence declaring the office vacant. The grounds are; abuse of office or willful violation of the oath of allegiance and presidential oath or any provision of the Constitution. This points to the rule of law since the President is subject to the law as well.

The other grounds are misconduct or misbehavior, physical or mental incapacity.

A president can resign by addressing a signed letter to the Chief Justice indicating his intentions to resign from the office of the President. Such resignation takes effect when the Chief Justice receives it.

Upon receiving the President’s resignation, the Chief Justice shall immediately notify the Vice president, the Speaker, and the electoral commission about the resignation.

The term tenure refers to the term of holding something. Article 105 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 provides for the tenure of