Africa-Press – Uganda. The National Unity Platform’s (NUP) Fred Nyanzi has for the third time lost an electoral petition through which he had hoped to unseat Kampala Central MP, Mohammad Nsereko.
High Court Judge Jesse Rugyema Byaruhanga yesterday ruled that Mr Nyanzi failed to adduce convincing and credible evidence to prove that the Electoral Commission (EC) and Mr Nsereko did not comply with the electoral laws, and committed any electoral offences during the January 2021 parliamentary elections.
“It follows that the petitioner would not be entitled to the declaration that he was validly elected winner as MP for Kampala [Central] constituency or any of the remedies prayed for. The third respondent (Nsereko) was validly elected as MP for Kampala [Central] constituency,” he ruled.
The deputy registrar of the Civil Division, Mr Jamson Karemani, read the judgment on behalf of the judge.
Court also observed that it was Mr Nyanzi’s case that upon realising that the election was charaterised by irregularities and malpractices, complained to the returning officer for a recount. That issue was, however, settled before the chief magistrates court, which dismissed it with costs of Shs38 million.
“In the premises that the matter before me is not an application for revision or an appeal against the refusal for a recount, I am not prepared to delve into it though this court would still have powers to order a recount if there are valid grounds for it,” Mr Karemani read.
The trial judge explained that Mr Nyanzi ought to have established by way of an application a clear basis for a recount in the areas of a dispute during the preliminary hearing. The complainant, he further noted, should have named the specific polling stations where he wished to have a vote recount.
The judge also noted that Mr Nyanzi relied on information from his agents and the declaration forms in their possession to formulate grounds for a recount, yet the same agents endorsed declaration forms certifying that the elections reflected the will of the people.
“In the premises, I declare the third respondent, Nsereko, as the validly elected MP. The petition is in the premises dismissed with costs,” the judge ruled.
Meanwhile, the same court has also declared Mr Brad Fabrice Rulinda as the chairperson/mayor of Entebbe Municipality in the elections conducted on January 25, 2021.
Court dismissed the claims of Mr Vicent De Paul Kayanja that while the voter turn-up percentage at the contested 10 polling stations was consistent with what he had, they contradicted the certified EC declaration of results forms.
The court dismissed the claim, observing that the argument was hypothetical and more of speculation without evidence.
“I find that there is no cogent evidence that was adduced by the petitioner to prove that there were falsified entries of results in the tally sheet and declaration of falsified results,” the judge ruled.
Background
In the January 14 General Election, the returning officer for Kampala Central declared Mr Nsereko as the winner of a hotly contested race with 16,998 votes cast against Mr Nyanzi’s 15,975 votes.
The returning officer was subsequently jointly sued along with Mr Nsereko and the EC. Mr Nyanzi accused Mr Nsereko of ballot stuffing, which he claimed led to wrong postings and mathematical and arithmetical mistakes. He also claimed that clerical errors in the tallying exercise were grave and were enough to affect the outcome of the election results in general.
This is the second ruling in this matter. The first was made by High Court Margaret Apiny who dismissed it in 2021 on the grounds that Mr Nyanzi failed to serve Nsereko as required by the law.
However, in June 2022, the Court of Appeal ordered a fresh hearing of the said petition noting that Mr Nyanzi made all required efforts to serve Mr Nsereko with a court order in vain. The matter was returned to the High Court and assigned to a new judge.
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