Court dismisses by-election case against Kayunga LCV chairperson

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Court of Appeal in Kampala has dismissed an election appeal filed by NUP’s Harriet Nakwedde challenging the victory of NRM’s Andrew Muwonge as the  Kayunga District LCV Chairperson.

The Court comprised of Justices Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Muzamiru Mutangula Kibedi, and Christopher Gashirabake on Friday dismissed Nakwedde’s appeal on the basis that she filed out of the stipulated seven days.

“Elections have a special legislation aimed at expediting the trial of electoral related matters. That is why the 7-day time frame under the Local Government Act for service is couched in mandatory terms. However in the current case, the Appellant did not comply with these mandatory statutory timelines’, said the Justices.

The dismissal followed a successful application filed by the Electoral Commission’s Head of Litigation Eric Sabiiti which was jointly sued with Muwonge for conniving to defraud Nakwedde of her victory.

On December 17th 2021, the Electoral Commission declared Muwonge of the ruling National Resistance Movement as the winner, garnering 31,830 votes, followed by Nakwedde of the opposition National Unity Platform with 31,308 votes. Independent candidate Majid Nyanzi secured third place with 1,287 votes in a by-election following the death of Ffeffeka Ssekibogo, elected in the 2021 general election.

Nakwedde, dissatisfied with the results, lodged a petition in the Mukono High Court, alleging bribery by Muwonge or his agents in ten locations and collusion with the Electoral Commission to manipulate results from 130 polling stations across the district.

She further accused President Yoweri Museveni, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, and senior NRM members, including Secretary-General Richard Todwong, Communications Director Emmanuel Dombo, and Director for Mobilization Rosemary Sseninde, of voter bribery. Additionally, she claimed there was tampering with results at various polling stations.

However, on July 14th, 2022, High Court Judge Alex Mackay Ajiji dismissed Nakwedde’s petition due to its late service, rendering it invalid. He affirmed Muwonge as the duly elected LC5 Chairperson. Aggrieved with Justice Ajiji’s decision, Nakwedde appealed through her lawyer Jonathan Erutu.

However, during the hearing in November 2023,  Muwonge, represented by his lawyer Anthony Bazira together with the Electoral Commission’s lawyer Sabiiti asked the court to dismiss Nakwedde’s appeal on grounds it was filed beyond the stipulated time frame.

Bazira argued that Nakwedde’s appeal was lodged nine months beyond the designated period and that she failed to take crucial steps promptly in pursuit of her appeal. Bazira, and Sabiiti told the Justices   that there exists no valid appeal against Muwonge and urged the court to strike it from the record, with costs.

In an interview with our reporter in November 2023, Nakwedde said her victory was unfairly contested attributing the filing delay to external factors beyond her control.

Muwonge has welcomed the decision saying that it is time to work for the people despite the fact that he was not happy that he wasn’t awarded costs.

Sabiiti said the decision is a confirmation of available precedents that courts will not accommodate litigants or their Counsel to file a petition outside stipulated time.

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