Masaka-Kalungu West Member of Parliament Joseph Gonzaga Ssewungu has asked the High Court in Masaka for permission to engage a government handwriting expert to examine disputed declaration of results forms as he seeks to defend his narrow victory in the last general elections.
Ssewungu of National Unity Platform , was declared the winner of the parliamentary election held on January 15, defeating his closest challenger, independent candidate Ismail Ssemakula, by just 46 votes.
According to the Electoral Commission’s official tally, Ssewungu polled 10,106 votes against Ssemakula’s 10,060.
Ssemakula, however, challenged the results, accusing Kalungu District Returning Officer Teddy Nabukenya of colluding with Ssewungu and presiding officers at various polling stations to alter the results in favour of the incumbent.
After failing to secure a recount at the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s Court, Ssemakula petitioned the High Court in Masaka, challenging Ssewungu’s victory, which he alleges was secured through electoral fraud.
In the petition filed through his lawyer, Abubakar Ssekanjako, Ssemakula alleges that the Electoral Commission relied on forged declaration of results forms to declare Ssewungu the winner, yet he had actually garnered the highest number of votes.
In his affidavits, Ssemakula points to seven polling stations in Kalungu Sub-county and Kyamulibwa Town Council where he alleges that the declaration of results forms were signed by the same person. He argues that this is evidence that the forms were forged.
Ssemakula wants the High Court to examine the disputed declaration of results forms alongside the Electoral Commission’s official tally sheet and subsequently nullify Ssewungu’s election as Member of Parliament.
He further alleges that the tally sheet shows that he obtained the highest overall number of votes, but that the results were fraudulently altered in favour of Ssewungu.
However, during a pre-trial conference before High Court Judge Joyce Kavuma, Ssewungu, through his lawyer Kenneth Paul Kakande, asked the court for permission to engage a government handwriting expert to examine the contested declaration of results forms.
The court granted the application and directed the petitioner to provide Ssewungu with the original copies of the disputed forms for verification.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the proceedings, Ssewungu questioned the authenticity of the declaration of results forms submitted by his opponent and asked that they be subjected to expert examination.
Ssemakula’s lawyer, Abubaker Ssekanjako, said they had no objection to the verification of the evidence, maintaining that they remained confident of successfully challenging Ssewungu’s election.
However, Ssekanjako asked the trial judge to have the handwriting expert conduct the examination in court to minimise the risk of the declaration of results forms being misplaced, altered or tampered with.
The judge has also directed both parties to summarise their preliminary points of law ahead of the hearing of the main petition, which is scheduled to begin on September 23.
