Judge slammed over fresh Luwero poll

By Andante Okanya  

Brenda Nabukenya whose election was nullified by the the High Court in Kampala on November 1, has slammed the judge who ordered a fresh poll for the Luwero Woman MP seat, saying his action was tainted with errors.

Justice Vincent Zehurikize ordered a fresh poll for the Luwero Woman MP seat on grounds that the Electoral Commission (EC) did not comply with electoral laws, particularly Section 54 of the Parliamentary Elections Act.

But in her memorandum of appeal filed at the Court of Appeal on November 7, Nabukenya (DP) is demanding the reversal of the judgement, contending that the judge did not critically analyse the evidence on record.

"The Honourable Justice Vincent Zehurikize failed to properly evaluate the evidence on record and wrongly concluded that the Returning officer was not justified to halt the recount," the memorandum states, also demanding that Nalwanga be ordered to pay Nabukenya’s costs both at the Court of Appeal and High Court.

Nabukenya asserts that Justice Vicent Zehurikize erred in law when he not only misinterpreted the law on recounts, but also failed to exercise his discretion to order for a recount. She additionally asserts that the judge wrongly concluded that failure to carry out a mandatory recount was a non-compliance which affected results in a substantial manner.

Rebecca Nalwanga(NRM) petitioned court, claiming EC frustrated the mandatory recount exercise. She contended that voting closed before the official time of 5:00pm, some voters found their names already ticked, and that invalid votes were counted as valid, in favour of Nabukenya.

In his judgement, Zehurikize remarked that EC should have recounted the votes, as stipulated in Section 54 of the Parliamentary Elections Act. He noted that since only 30 votes separated the two, the recount was mandatory, following Rebecca Nalwanga's complaint.

Zehurikize noted that there was no justification for the district returning officer Peter Kasozi to abandon the November 24, 2011 recount. The judge agreed with Nalwanga's lawyers Gabriel Byamugisha and Frank Kanduho who earlier stated that halting the recount was intended to frustrate the petitioner. EC had no lawyer in court.

Basing his explanation on Kasozi's statement that he abandoned the recount after complaints that the ballot storage seals were tampered with, Zehurikize said EC was mandated to ensure safety by erasing such doubts.  In his statement, Kasozi refuted claims of foul play, explaining that the polling officials did not know how to adequately fasten the seals.

The judge however berated Nalwanga's witnesses who testified that they were turned away from the polling stations. Zehurikize dismissed this as far-fectched, noting that none of Nalwanga's polling agents complained, and that they signed the declaration forms. He also dismissed assertions that masqueraders voted Nabukenya.

In last year's February 18 polls, Nalwanga polled 46,544 votes, while Lugudde (independent) came last with 4,741 votes. Anna Kirabo and Elsie Namagembe polled 22,332 votes, and 14,663 votes respectively.

However, in the by-election, Nabukenya won with 14,945 votes while Nalwanga polled 14,915 votes. Gwokyalya polled 3,775 votes, Asiimwe got 3,687 votes, and Namagambe polled 2,193, while Lugudde trailed with 191votes.