MPs reject move to disqualify candidates over names

Parliament has rejected a move by the Electoral Commission (EC) not to consider candidates whose maiden names do not appear on their academic papers.

According to the MPs, the move would affect candidates, especially women who have since adopted maiden names after marriage. Raising the issue as a matter of national importance, Soroti District Woman MP Angelline Osegge told Parliament that the EC had taken a decision not to consider candidates whose names are different from those on their academic documents.

Quoting the Court of Appeal case that nullified the election of Kibanda North MP Taban Idi Amin, Osegge said Taban's election was nullified because his academic qualifications were at variance with his national identity card which carries the name, Taban Idi Amin Tempo.

"The EC is considering nullifying the elections of women who acquire their husband's names upon marriage," Osegge said. She observed that she was aware that the EC had relied on a High Court case between former Kibanda North MP Sam Otada and the current area MP Taban Idi Amin.

Asuman Basalirwa, the Bugiri Municipality MP, also expressed concern that there is no uniform position on the matter.

According to Basalirwa, the matter had been brought to the attention of Parliament's committee on legal and parliamentary affairs and that of EC, but there was no uniform position taken.

"Whereas they are quoting the Otada case, there is a case I argued up to the Court of Appeal involving Cissy Namujju. She also had different names; I won the case in Masaka High Court and I lost it in the Court of Appeal over the difference in names," Basalirwa explained.

Ruling over the matter, Speaker of Parliament Rebecca Kadaga summoned the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to Parliament to explain the fate of candidates whose maiden names do not appear on academic documents. She said: "The matter is very important and not based on the law.

The people who change names are mostly women when they marry. This is targeting the women in this election," Kadaga said.

LEGAL PROCESS

However, in response to Parliament's concern, Paul Bukenya, the acting head of public relations at the EC, defended the commission's position, saying anybody who wants to change or add another name, should follow the legal process.

"Any change in the name must be backed by the law or statutory declaration," Bukenya told New Vision.

According to Bukenya, many candidates tend to change their names in the run-up to the general election by adopting names of their husbands or fathers, whom they consider more prominent and appealing to the voters.

He said some aspiring female candidates have expressed concern that their nomination papers may be rejected because of changes to their maiden names following marriage and adoption of husbands' names.

"The commission wishes to draw the attention of such concerned persons to provisions of section 36 of the Registration of Persons Act (NIRA) 2015, which requires that any change of name, whether by way of marriage, must be harmonised through a legal process," Bukenya explained.

He also advised that female candidates who may have added the name(s) of the husband before the above mentioned Act came into force and used the statutory declaration of or an affidavit to harmonise their names should avail the said documents during nominations.

The electoral body also advised that any aspiring candidate who may have names that do not appear on their academic papers should use the remaining time, before the nominations, to formalise the change through the prescribed legal process, such as a deed poll published in the Uganda gazette.

In 2018, the EC disqualified Pallisa District Woman MP aspirant Catherine Achola Osupelem, after the commission established that the names on her nomination papers were not matching those on her academic papers.