Besigye Hires Gore Lawyer

Apr 02, 2001

Col. Kizza Besigye has hired a US lawyer, a consultant to former Vice-President Al Gore who lost the controversial presidential elections to George W. Bush in November 2000.

By Hamis Kaheru And Juliet Nanking Col. Kizza Besigye has hired a US lawyer, a consultant to former Vice-President Al Gore who lost the controversial presidential elections to George W. Bush in November 2000. Joseph Balikuddembe, Besigye's lead lawyer, yesterday described Prof. Richard Pildes as "a leading election lawyer in the United States." Al Gore, the Democrats' candidate, challenged Florida results in court, calling for a manual recount of ballots. After a protracted legal battle, Gore conceded defeat to Bush, a Republican. Balikuddembe said Pildes would not come to Uganda but would provide legal advice from US. He said another constitutional law consultant from New York, Mark McNeill, would be flying in to join his (Balikuddembe's) 40-strong team. He said McNeill was here during the petition against results of the June 2000 referendum on political systems. Balikuddembe represented DP's President General Paul Ssemogerere and Zachary Olum, the winners. He said on Sunday that US and South African experts would be in the country before Thursday when hearing of the petition starts. Today, the court will be considering preliminary matters. Besigye has also contracted a prominent Kampala advocate, Godfrey Lule of Lule & Sebalu Advocates, Makerere University law academics Jean John Barya, Frederick Jjuuko and Kiyemba Mutale as consultants. Private advocates to assist Balikuddembe are Abdul Katuntu of Katuntu & Co. Advocates, Mohamed Mbabazi of Nyanzi, Kiboneka & Mbabazi Advocates, Peter Walubiri of Bamwite, Walubiri & Co. Advocates and Yusuf Nsibambi of Nsibambi & Co. Advocates. President-elect Yoweri Museveni, the first respondent in the petition, has hired Kenyan lawyers Dr. John Kaminwa and Eugene Wamalwa. Kaminwa, 65, told The New Vision yesterday that they had secured a special licence from Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki specifically for the petition. Kaminwa said he could appear before a Ugandan court without a special certificate because he was enrolled as an advocate of the Uganda High Court in the 1970s while working for the East African Community (EAC). He said he was deputy counsel to the defunct EAC, a position he said was equivalent to deputy chief justice. He runs a law firm in Nairobi, Kaminwa & Kaminwa Advocates. "My wife Joyce Kaminwa is the other partner in the firm," he said. He said his wife is a part-time judge. He said their 36-year-old son, whom he did not identify, is also an advocate in their law firm. Eugene Wamalwa, 31, works for Wamalwa & Co. Advocates in Nairobi. The Kenyans will be part of Museveni's team, which, he said recently, will be at least 100 lawyers. Besigye says the elections were not free and fair. He said given "the malpractices," the elections should be cancelled, Museveni's victory annulled and new presidential elections called for. Ends

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});