ELECTION WATCH
High Court has dismissed a case in which presidential aspirant Joseph Kabuleta and Dr. Dean Emmanuel Kisembo were challenging scientific elections and digital campaigns as announced by the Electoral Commission (EC) chairperson justice Simon Byamukama.
Judge Esta Nambayo has ruled that Kabuleta and Kisembo would have first registered their complaint regarding the scientific elections with the Electoral Commission and later appeal to the High Court but they chose to begin with the later stage.
She also ruled that court can't issue declarations on non-existence guidelines which are based on just a mere press release issued by the EC as there is evidence from the electoral body that guidelines for the 2021 general elections due to the COVID -19 pandemic will be issued after consultation from relevant stakeholders.
Basing on all that , Judge Nambayo upheld the Electoral commission's objection that the case is bad in law and ordered Kabuleeta and Kisembo to pay costs to the Electoral commission.
The duo had petitioned court reasoning that the move by EC to ban public rallies is intended to gag electorates from interacting with people they are to elect thus locking them from active participation in matters regarding how they should be governed.