Africa-Press – Uganda. COURT|#ElectionsWatch2021|MP LUBWAMA
KAMPALA – The Court of Appeal on Thursday (December 17, 2020) pushed the hearing of the election petition in which a voter is challenging Rubaga South MP Paul Kato Lubwama’s 2016 election victory to February. Deputy registrar Sarah Babirye did not give the exact date. Lubwama’s lawyer Luyimbazi Nalukoola said this means that the verdict will be for academic purposes since it would have been overtaken by events. “We thought the case would be before a panel of three judges since it is an appeal, but we instead appeared before the registrar, who adjourned it to next year,” he said. Lubwama is challenging the decision of retired High Court judge, Margaret Oguli-Oumo, who extended time within which Habib Buwembo, a voter, filed an election petition challenging his victory. Buwembo filed the petition in court seven months after the expiry of 30 days from the date of gazetting the election results. In 2016, Buwembo petitioned the High Court seeking to unseat Lubwama on the grounds that he did not possess the requisite minimum academic qualifications to represent the people of Rubaga South in Parliament. When the petition was filed, Lubwama sought to throw out Buwembo’s case, saying he had filed it late. On December 19, 2016, Oguli, however, granted Buwembo permission to file an election petition against Lubwama. Being dissatisfied with the decision, Lubwama petitioned the Court of Appeal to quash the lower court decision.
Following Lubwama’s petition, the Court of Appeal stayed execution of the lower court’s decision, but to date, it has never heard the merits of the matter. Court documents indicate that Lubwama failed English, mathematics and commerce, but got a Credit three in Christian religious education, a Pass eight in history and geography respectively. Buwembo said the results did not merit Lubwama a Uganda Certificate of Education certificate, a prerequisite for taking Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) that ordinarily enables a person to pursue a diploma or degree course at a university. It is alleged that Lubwama used the documents to sit mature age entry exams to be admitted for a diploma in music, dance and drama at Makerere University. In a memorandum of appeal, Lubwama argues that the High Court judge erred in law when she held that the court had jurisdiction to extend the 30-day time frame in which an election for an MP can be challenged under the doctrine of checks and balances. However, Buwembo, through his lawyer Isaac Ssemakadde, contends that Lubwama does not have the right to appeal against interlocutory matters, saying they should wait for the High Court to determine the petition and then appeal. An interlocutory order, sentence, decree or judgment is given in an intermediate stage between the commencement and termination of a cause of action, used to provide a temporary or provisional decision on an issue. Ssemakadde insists that there was no need to stay High Court proceedings since Lubwama is an MP and court has not yet determined the winner of the petition. Lubwama has already been nominated by the Electoral Commission (EC) to run for a second term in 2021.
