The Masaka High Court has upheld the election of State Minister for Water Aisha Ssekindi as Kalungu District Woman Member of Parliament, after dismissing a petition challenging her victory over allegations of electoral malpractice and non-compliance with electoral laws.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Bernard Namanya, the court dismissed a petition filed by Hellen Nakeeya, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) candidate who challenged Ssekindi’s election as an independent candidate.
Nakeeya accused Ssekindi of bribing voters and deploying her security details to unleash violence against her opponents and their supporters during the campaigns and on the eve of the elections.
She told court that two of her campaign coordinators were shot dead, several others injured, and three campaign vehicles destroyed during the violence, which destabilized her throughout the exercise.
Nakeeya also accused Ssekindi’s campaign agents of distributing dummy ballot papers across the district two days before polling, to confuse voters, particularly elderly NRM supporters, into voting for an independent candidate.
Through her lawyer, Simon Peter Kasangaki, Nakeeya asked the court to nullify the election results and order a fresh poll in which she could participate freely.
However, Justice Namanya ruled that although Nakeeya had proved that serious incidents of violence and electoral malpractice occurred during the campaign period, she had failed to meet the statutory threshold for overturning the election.
“Although the petitioner proved that grave incidents occurred during the electoral period, including the killing of two of her supporters, namely Katumba Gerald and Muyingo Frank; assaults; intimidation; malicious damage to a campaign vehicle; and acts of incitement and misinformation, the occurrence of those acts, without more, does not satisfy the statutory threshold for overturning an election,” the judgment reads in part.
Despite dismissing the petition, Justice Namanya faulted the Electoral Commission for failing to take timely measures to address the violence and intimidation that marred the electoral process in Kalungu District, including the killing of Nakeeya’s supporters.
The judge noted that during the hearing of the petition, the Commission failed to explain why it did not take remedial measures following the killings, including considering postponing the poll under Section 64 of the Parliamentary Elections Act.
“No satisfactory explanation was offered by the Electoral Commission for the failure to take timely remedial measures following those killings, including consideration of the power to postpone polling under section 64 of the Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap. 177),” the judgment reads.
On the allegations of voter bribery and distribution of dummy ballot papers, the court found that Nakeeya had failed to adduce reliable evidence demonstrating how the acts influenced voters or affected the election outcome.
Justice Namanya further noted that, given the declared margin of 20,275 votes between the candidates, the court could not conclude that the irregularities substantially affected the result based solely on the gravity of the incidents.
He held that an election could not be overturned on the basis of conjecture, sympathy or the possibility that the petitioner’s campaign activities had been disrupted. He also ordered the two parties to meet their respective legal expenses.
However, Nakeeya has expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling, saying she is considering appealing the decision.
“Court concurred with us about the irregularities that occurred in the election; how come it suddenly fails to impute guilt on the offenders? We are going to challenge the judgment in a higher court,” she noted.
