Electoral Commission urged to respect court orders

The Principal Judge, Yorokamu Bamwine has warned the Electoral Commission against disobeying court orders and twisting laws to suit its interests.

"Court orders should never be disobeyed. In case of anything you do not understand consult us and we see how to handle it." Bamwine said.

He was addressing the High Court judges at Royal Suites Bugolobi, during a two day training workshop on the management of election petitions, organized by the Judicial Studies Institute (JSI).

Bamwine was prompted to issue the stern warning after he was incensed by an illustration presented by the EC legal officer, Abubaker Kayondo.

In his illustration while trying to explain a question presented to him by one of the judges seeking a clarification on what is more important between a nomination form and a court order.

The judges' question was hinged on the way the electoral body rubbished court orders halting and or quashing nominations of some party candidates following complaints of vote rigging and false academic qualifications, filed by their opponents in the courts of law.

Kayondo in his response told the judges that the nomination forms showing that a candidate was duly nominated by the party in question takes precedence over the court order.

This angered the judges and through justice Bamwine, they ordered EC to respect the court orders especially if they arise from election petitions. "who are you to disobey a court order," one judge murmured.

Bamwine also directed the electoral body to stop twisting laws to fit their interests. This was after Kayondo found a hard time explaining why during the nomination period, EC was referred to as the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and after they changed back to EC.

"It seems you like twisting the law to suit your interests. Just a few days back you claimed you were the IEC and today you have changed to EC," Bamwine pointed out.

Realizing the anomaly, Kayondo quickly responded that the change of name from EC to IEC was proposed before parliament but the amendment has not yet been assented to. He asked the public and the media to desist from referring EC as IEC, until after the amendment is passed.

The Principal Judge asked EC to exercise its powers in accordance with all the well-established laws during this election period in order to avert disaster that might arise due to its inconsistency.

"The rule of law requires the EC to exercise its powers in accordance with well-established and clearly written rules, regulations and legal principles," he said.

However, the executive Director, Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), Livingstone Ssewanyana, while presenting a paper on the electoral process in Uganda before the judges, said that for peace to prevail during the electoral process, security bodies need to be streamlined.

He said sprouting party leaning militia groups such as the TJ Solida, Kikankane, Black Cobra, Kiboko Squad, Yellow Squad, G6 Pentagon, Suubi 211, orange Brigade and many others, if not regulated or disbanded, can wreak havoc during elections.

"Whereas many of these groups claim that their objective is to protect the vote, they have in many instances been found meting violence against their electoral opponents," he said