Nambooze beats Bakaluba again

Mar 27, 2009

The Court of Appeal has upheld the cancellation of Bakaluba Mukasa’s election as MP for Mukono North Constituency. In a majority two to one judgment, the court said Justice Arach Amoko of the High Court properly evaluated the evidence and rightly nulli

By Anne Mugisa and Hillary Nsambu

The Court of Appeal has upheld the cancellation of Bakaluba Mukasa’s election as MP for Mukono North Constituency. In a majority two to one judgment, the court said Justice Arach Amoko of the High Court properly evaluated the evidence and rightly nullified Bakaluba’s election.

The case was first taken to court in March 2006 when Nambooze sought the nullification of Bakaluba’s election in February 2006. In the lead judgment, justices George Engwau and Constance Byamugisha agreed with the High Court that there was massive bribery by Bakaluba, which influenced the voting.

The judges dismissed Bakaluba’s appeal against the High Court ruling and ordered him to pay Nambooze the costs of the case in both the Court of Appeal and the High Court.

However, Justice Steven Kavuma dissented with the ruling, saying no conclusive evidence was brought against Bakaluba in the High Court to warrant the decision.

Kavuma also said Bakaluba was not given time to prepare to challenge the accusations.

He said Bakaluba had only 21 days to prepare while Nambooze had a very long time. Kavuma argued that before the elections, Nambooze said she would challenge the results and hold the polling officers accountable.

He said from the time of elections, Nambooze had started laying a strategy for the petition and filed papers in the court over a period of time.

Justice Kavuma also said the High Court judge erred by allowing some of the affidavits, saying they were of no evidential value because no fees were paid to file them.

He said Nambooze should pay Bakaluba the costs of the case in both the Court of Appeal and the High Court.

The appeal ruling was read to the fully packed court by the Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Asaph Ntengye Ruhinda.

Nambooze, her husband and supporters, were present while Bakaluba did not attend. Her supporters chanted of Democratic Party slogans as soon as the ruling was made.

Nambooze said Bakaluba knew the truth, but only prolonged the case in court to buy time.

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